Dome of the Cathedral of Saint Paul The Cathedral of Saint Paul is a Roman Catholic cathedral in United States, it sits on Summit Hill overlooking downtown St. Paul and features a distinctive copper-clad dome. The current building opened in 1915 as the fourth cathedral of the archdiocese to bear this name.
History The building of the current structure was instigated by Archbishop John Ireland in French Beaux-Arts architect Emmanuel Masqueray, who was also the chief architect of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. Masqueray's open design allows visitors unobstructed views of the altar and pulpit. Construction began in 1906. Masqueray died in 1917, having completed only a few designs for the interior, which has been filled by other designers in the subsequent decades.
The dome of the cathedral is 96 feet in diameter and 175 feet high. Warm-colored paint and gold leaf were added during a major renovation of the dome in the 1950s. The exterior walls of the cathedral are Rockville granite from St. Cloud, Minnesota. The interior walls are American Travertine from Mankato, Minnesota. The interior columns are made of several types of imported marble.
Altar of Cathedral of Saint Paul The interior is illuminated in the dome by twenty_four stained glass windows of the angelic choirs, as well as a rose windows in the transept designed by Charles Connick. Electric lighting was installed in 1940.
The cathedral has statues of the four evangelists in the four corners of its main pier. The life of St. Paul is honored by a bronze baldachin, as well as massive bronze Te Deum and Magnificat grilles. The cathedral also has six chapels dedicated to the patron patron saints of the European ethnic groups that settled the area around the city: Italians, St. John the Baptist for the French Canadians, St. Patrick for the Irish, St. Boniface for the Germans, Saints Cyril and Methodius for the Slavs; and St. Therese of Lisieux for the missionaries.
In 1987 the cathedral acquired five bronze bells cast in France. The copper dome was renovated in 2002.
The cathedral is open seven days a week for approximately 12 hours a day.
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