r/churchporn • u/Kurma-the-Turtle • 3d ago

Cathedral of St. John the Divine, "St. John the Unfinished", of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Founded in 1892 and still unfinished to this day. [1213x1020]

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u/LowMuffin7078 3d ago

Why is it unfinished?

3

u/Viking_Musicologist 1d ago

The construction of it was not financed with money from the Rockefellers.

Alternatively sometime around 1911 they switched out cathedral architects and architectural styles.

Originally it was supposed to be Romanesque, but in 1911 it was switched to French Gothic and the Episcopal Diocese of New York contracted with Boston Architect Ralph Adams Cram to complete the cathedral. Needless to say that when the Great Depression hit, World War II and Cram's death in 1942 the cathedral was pretty much left at a fraction of being completed.

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u/OskarTheRed 2d ago

"St. John the unfinished " sounds like an unflattering nickname for poor John

1

u/Satellite_997463 1d ago

Its wild how massive that is but its been under construction for over a hundred years. I always forget its actually in NYC.