Вашингтон ұлттық соборы

Cathedral in Washington, D. C., US

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D. C., the capital of the United States. The structure is of Neo Gothic design closely modeled on English Gothic style of the late fourteenth century. It is the second largest church building in the United States, and the third tallest building in Washington, D. C. The cathedral is the seat of both the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Bruce Curry, and the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, Mariann Edgar Budde. Over 270,000 people visit the structure annually. The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, under the first seven Bishops of Washington, erected the cathedral under a charter passed by the United States Congress on January 6, 1893. Construction began on September 29, 1907, when the foundation stone was laid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt and a crowd of more than 20,000, and ended 83 years later when the "final finial" was placed in the presence of President George H. W. Bush in 1990. Decorative and restorative work, particularly of damage from a nearby earthquake in 2011, is ongoing as of 2024. The Foundation is the legal entity of which all institutions on the Cathedral Close are a part; its corporate staff provides services for the institutions to help enable their missions, conducts work of the Foundation itself that is not done by the other entities, and serves as staff for the board of trustees. The cathedral stands at Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues in the northwest quadrant of Washington. It is an associate member of the recently organized inter denominational Washington Theological Consortium. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2007, it was ranked third on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.

In 1792, Pierre L'Enfant's "Plan of the Federal City" specified a site for a "great church for national purposes". However he defined it as non sectarian and nondenominational. Alexander Hamilton modified L'Enfant's plan and eliminated the "church" and several other proposed monuments and that plan was never reproduced. The working plan for the new city was subsequently produced by Andrew Ellicott and it varied in many respects from L'Enfant's. although the essence remained. The National Portrait Gallery now occupies that site. In 1891, a meeting was held to begin plans for an Episcopal cathedral in Washington. On January 6, 1893, the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation of the District of Columbia was granted a charter from Congress to establish the cathedral. The 52nd United States Congress declared in the act to incorporate the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation of the District of Columbia that the "said corporation is hereby empowered to establish and maintain within the District of Columbia a cathedral and institutions of learning for the promotion of religion and education and charity." The commanding site on Mount Saint Alban was chosen. Henry Yates Satterlee, first Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Washington, chose George Frederick Bodley, Britain's leading Anglican church architect, as the head architect. Henry Vaughan was selected supervising architect. Construction started on September 29, 1907, with a ceremonial address by President Theodore Roosevelt and the laying of the cornerstone. In 1912, Bethlehem Chapel opened for services in the unfinished cathedral, which have continued daily ever since. When construction of the cathedral resumed after a brief hiatus for World War I, both Bodley and Vaughan had died. Gen. John J. Pershing led fundraising efforts for the church after World War I. American architect Philip Hubert Frohman took over the design of the cathedral and was thenceforth designated the principal architect. Funding for Washington National Cathedral has come entirely from private sources. Maintenance and upkeep continue to rely entirely upon private support.

From its earliest days, the cathedral has been promoted as more than simply an Episcopal cathedral. Planners hoped it would play a role similar to Westminster Abbey. They wanted it to be a national shrine and a venue for great services. For much of the cathedral's history, this was captured in the phrase "a house of prayer for all people." In more recent times the phrases "national house of prayer" and "spiritual home for the nation" have been used. The cathedral has achieved this status simply by offering itself and being accepted by religious and political leaders as playing this role. Its initial charter was similar to those granted to American University, The Catholic University of America, and other not for profit entities founded in the District of Columbia c. 1900. Contrary to popular misconception, the government has not designated it as a national house of prayer. During World War II, monthly services were held there "on behalf of a united people in a time of emergency." Before and since, the structure has hosted other major events, both religious and secular, that have drawn the attention of the American people, as well as tourists from around the world.

In January 2003, Nathan D. Baxter, dean of the cathedral, announced his retirement effective from June 30, 2003. Baxter had led the cathedral since 1991. After an 18 month search, Samuel T. Lloyd III was named dean and began his tenure on April 23, 2005. Using a $15 million bequest the cathedral received in 2000, Lloyd rapidly expanded the cathedral's programming. Meanwhile, the cathedral deferred maintenance and declined to make needed repairs. In early 2008, the National Cathedral Association, the church's fundraising donor network, was disbanded after cathedral leaders concluded that the building was "finished" and it was no longer necessary to raise significant funds for construction. The 2008–2009 Great Recession hit the cathedral hard. By June 2010, the cathedral cut its budget from $27 million to $13 million, outsourced the operation of its gift shop, shut its greenhouse, cancelled its plans to replace the Skinner organ in the sanctuary, and ceased operation of the College of Preachers that had provided Episcopal clergy nationwide with continuing theological education. The cathedral also laid off 100 of its 170 staff members, including its art conservator and its liturgist (who researched and advocated the use of liturgies at the cathedral). It also significantly cut back on programming, music performances, and classes. To help stabilize its finances, the cathedral began an $11 million fundraising campaign and used $2.5 million of its $50 million endowment to plug budget holes. As the economic downturn continued, a report by cathedral staff identified $30 million in needed maintenance and repairs. and moving forward with some large capital projects including the renovation and opening of the Virginia Mae Center, commencement of the great organ renovation, and continued earthquake repairs.

The cathedral's final design shows a mix of influences from the various Gothic architectural styles of the Middle Ages, identifiable in its pointed arches, flying buttresses, a variety of ceiling vaulting, stained glass windows and carved decorations in stone, and by its three similar towers, two on the west front and one surmounting the crossing. The structure consists of a long, narrow rectangular mass formed by a nine bay nave with wide side aisles and a five bay chancel, intersected by a six bay transept. Above the crossing, rising 91.74 m above the ground, is the Gloria in Excelsis Tower; its top, at 206.04 m above sea level, is the highest point in Washington. Extensive wrought iron adorns the building, much of it the work of Samuel Yellin. A substantial gate of forged iron and carbon steel by Albert Paley was installed on the north side of the crypt level in 2008. Intricate woodcarving, wall sized murals and mosaics, and monumental cast bronze gates can also be found. Most of the interior decorative elements have Christian symbolism, in reference to the church's Episcopal roots, but the cathedral is filled with memorials to persons or events of national significance: statues of Washington and Lincoln, state seals embedded in the marble floor of the narthex, state flags that hang along the nave, stained glass commemorating events like the Lewis and Clark expedition and the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima. The cathedral was built with several intentional "flaws" in keeping with an apocryphal medieval custom that sought to illustrate that only God can be perfect. Artistically speaking, these flaws (which often come in the form of intentional asymmetries) draw the observer's focus to the sacred geometry as well as compensate for visual distortions, a practice that has been used since the Pyramids and the Parthenon. The architects designed the crypt chapels in Norman, Romanesque, and Transitional styles predating the Gothic, as though the cathedral had been built as a successor to earlier churches, a common occurrence in European cathedrals. Numerous grotesques and gargoyles adorn the exterior, most of them designed by the carvers; one of the more famous of these is a caricature of then master carver Roger Morigi on the north exterior of the nave. There were also two competitions held for the public to provide designs to supplement those of the carvers. The second of these produced the famous Darth Vader grotesque which is high on the northwest tower, sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter and carved by Patrick J. Plunkett. The west facade follows an iconographic program of Creation rather than that of the Last Judgement as was traditional in medieval churches. All of the sculptural work was designed by Frederick Hart and features tympanum carvings of the creation of the Sun and Moon over the outer doors and the creation of man over the center. Hart also sculpted the three statues of Adam and Saints Peter and Paul. The west doors are cast bronze rather than wrought iron. The west rose window, often used as a trademark of the cathedral, was designed by Rowan LeCompte and is an abstract depiction of the creation of light. LeCompte, who also designed the clerestory windows and the mosaics in the Resurrection Chapel, chose a nonrepresentational design because he feared that a figural window could fail to be seen adequately from the great distance to the nave. The cathedral contains a basement, which was intentionally flooded during the Cuban Missile Crisis to provide emergency drinking water in the event of a nuclear war.

The cathedral's master plan was designed by George Frederick Bodley (founder of Watts & Co.), a highly regarded British Gothic Revival architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was influenced by Canterbury. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. contributed a landscaping plan for the cathedral close and Nellie B. Allen designed a knot garden for the Bishop's Garden. After Bodley died in 1907, his partner Henry Vaughan revised the original design, but work stopped during World War I and Vaughan died in 1917. When work resumed after the war, the chapter hired Boston architecture firm Frohman, Robb and Little to execute the building. Philip Hubert Frohman, who had designed his first fully functional home at age 14 and received his architectural degree at age 16, and his partners worked to perfect Bodley's vision, adding the carillon section of the central tower, enlarging the west façade, and making numerous smaller changes. Ralph Adams Cram was hired to supervise Frohman, because of his experience with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, but Cram insisted on so many major changes to the original design that Frohman convinced the cathedral chapter to fire him. By Frohman's death in 1972, the final plans had been completed and the building was finished accordingly.

The worship department is, like the cathedral itself, rooted in the doctrine and practice of the Episcopal Church, and based in the Book of Common Prayer. Three services are held each weekday, including the daily Eucharist. Sunday through Thursday, the cathedral choirs sing Evensong. The 40 minute service is attended by roughly 50 to 75 people, with more on Sunday. Three services of the Eucharist are held on Sunday, along with Choral Evensong. The cathedral also has been a temporary home to several congregations, including a Jewish synagogue and an Eastern Orthodox community. It has also been the site for several ecumenical and interfaith services. In October 2005, at the cathedral, the Rev. Nancy Wilson was consecrated and installed as moderator (denominational executive) of the Metropolitan Community Church, by its founding moderator, the Rev. Troy Perry. Each Christmas, the cathedral holds special services, which are broadcast to the world. The service of lessons and carols is distributed by Public Radio International. Christmas at Washington National Cathedral is a live television broadcast of the 9:00 a. m. Eucharist on Christmas Day. It is produced by WJLA TV and is shown on national affiliates in most cities around the United States. Some affiliates broadcast the service at noon. The Christmas service at the cathedral was broadcast to the nation on television from 1953 until 2010 and is still webcast live from the cathedral's homepage.

The Washington National Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, founded in 1909, is one of very few cathedral choirs of men and boys in the United States with an affiliated school, in the English choir tradition. The eighteen to twenty two boys singing treble are of ages 8 to 14 and attend St. Albans School, the Cathedral school for boys, on vocal scholarships. In 1997, the Cathedral Choir of Men and Girls was formed by Bruce Neswick, using the same men as the choir of the men and boys. The Choir consists of middle and high school girls attending the National Cathedral School on vocal scholarships. The two choirs currently share service duties and occasionally collaborate. Both choirs have recently recorded several CDs, including a Christmas album; a U. S. premiere recording of Ståle Kleiberg's Requiem for the Victims of Nazi Persecution; and a patriotic album, America the Beautiful. The choirs rehearse separately every weekday morning in a graded class incorporated into their school schedule. The choristers sing Evensong five days a week (the Boys Choir on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the Girls Choir on Mondays and Wednesdays). The choirs alternate Sunday worship duties, singing both morning Eucharist and afternoon Evensong when they are on call. The choirs also sing for numerous state and national events. The choirs are featured annually on Christmas at Washington National Cathedral, broadcast nationally on Christmas Day. The resident symphonic chorus of Washington National Cathedral is the Cathedral Choral Society.

The Great Organ was installed by the Ernest M. Skinner & Son Organ Company in 1938. The original instrument consisted of approximately 8,400 pipes. The instrument was enlarged by the Aeolian Skinner Organ Company in 1963 and again between 1970 and 1975, during which time more than half of the original instrument was removed. The present instrument consists of 189 ranks and 10,647 pipes.

Although the instrument was mechanically restored in the late 80s and early 90s, the instrument has deteriorated to the point where a third of the instrument was unplayable, including the entire Solo division. Furthermore, the layout of the organ created a confusing sonic effect for listeners, and the neo classical approach to organ building that was popular during the era of the Organ Reform Movement had become obsolete. The organ was to be replaced with a new instrument built by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, but this plan was scrapped in 2009. As of 2023, plans are being developed for a renovation of the instrument. The organ will be renovated by Foley Baker Inc. of Tolland, CT over a span of 4 years from 2024 to 2028 at the cost of $14 million, and is expected to reduce the size of the organ to 172 ranks and 9,787 pipes. The carillon has 53 bells ranging from to and was manufactured by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough, England in 1963. The bells are hung dead, meaning rigidly fixed, and are struck on the inside by hammers activated from the keyboard.

In 2016, under the leadership of then Associate for Worship and Music, the Rev. Dr. Andrew K. Barnett, the Cathedral transformed its 9:00am Sunday Eucharist into a BAS Communion Service with both contemporary language and music. This meant regular collaborations with Barnett's Theodicy Jazz Collective. Following Barnett's departure in 2019 (to All Saints, Atlanta), GRAMMY Award nominee Daryl L. A. Hunt joined the Cathedral as Associate Director of Music for Contemporary Worship where he expanded the Cathedral Band and focused the Cathedral's contemporary music offerings towards African American spirituals and contemporary ensemble music. Since March 2020, the Cathedral's Principal Sunday Eucharist at 11:15am has included a blend of contemporary and traditional music.

The cathedral played a major role in The West Wing season 2 finale "Two Cathedrals." In a scene following the funeral of a major character, President Bartlet engages in a one sided argument with God which seamlessly blends English and Latin dialogue. The cathedral also makes appearances in the following movies: The Pelican Brief (1993), Lady like (2017), and the short documentary The Stone Carvers (1984), which describes the construction of the cathedral.