Cathedral of Saint Paul

Since the three of us were in the area and Hubby was a willing tourist, we also visited Cathedral Hill in St. Paul, that May weekend. OFD and I saw St. Paul's Cathedral in London. In fact, we toured it together in 2005. We knew the Cathedral of Saint Paul would not be on the same WOW level. It was impressive, none the less.

(this is the rose window of the organ case)

a wooden log chapel 17x25 was built in 1841

French architect, Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, began 

construction in 1906. He had a budget of $1 million.

He incorporated design from Sacre-Coeur in Paris

which OFD and I also saw in 2005

The hand carved walnut organ case preserves the

view of the Cathedral's rose window and

houses 123 organ pipes.

some of the organ pipes

Michelangelo's Pietá

a copy of the original in Saint Peter's Basilica

in Vatican City

which I have also seen, 

in 2000 with OFS

Capitol from the steps of the building

St. Paul skyline from the step of the cathedral

the cathedral in a drive by photo

The 'community' began as Lambert's Landing, a trading stop across the river from Fort Snelling, settled by French-Canadians. Whiskey and the settlers who enjoyed the drink were banned by the military officers, so Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, a retired fur trader-turned-bootlegger, set up his tavern, the Pig's Eye near Lambert's Landing. By the 1840's the community was known as Pig's Eye as well as Lambert's Landing. That all changed when Father Lucien Gaitier was sent to minister to the Catholic French-Canadians. He commissioned the building of the wooden chapel, named for his favorite saint. Galtier intended for the settlement to adopt the name Saint Paul in honor of his chapel. In 1849, his wish came true and the city of Saint Paul was named after the Cathedral of Saint Paul.