Cathedrals (literally, churches which contain bishops’ thrones)
are an ancient tradition in Christianity. Last year, the first
Roman Catholic Cathedral to be built in the present millennium
opened in Los Angeles, meriting a visit when you’re in the
area.
Cathedrals (literally, churches which contain bishops’ thrones) are an ancient tradition in Christianity. Last year, the first Roman Catholic Cathedral to be built in the present millennium opened in Los Angeles, meriting a visit when you’re in the area.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is housed on a 5.6-acre site on the edge of downtown, overlooking the traffic of the Hollywood Freeway. Its soft earth tones and 37-bell carillon atop a 150-foot campanile make a strong statement of the presence of some four million Catholics in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Visitors or worshipers can’t enter the cathedral directly from the street; they must go in through a lower plaza, up a great staircase, cross an upper plaza and finally enter through huge, 5-ton, 30-foot high bronze doors. A large statue of St. Mary surrounded by a halo of light is located above these doors.
Inside is seating for 3,000. At the entrance of the church, symbolic of becoming a Christian through the sacrament of baptism, is the baptistery, a granite pool two-and-a-half feet deep. On the wall behind is a lovely tapestry depicting the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.
The cathedral floor slopes down from the entrance to the altar some 300 feet away. This grade allows worshipers to better see and participate in the service. Often cathedrals are dark, mysterious buildings; this one is quite bright because of the many translucent alabaster windows filtering sunlight throughout.
The grounds of the cathedral are equally remarkable, including a meditation garden with palms, Japanese maples and a quiet pool. A Donor colonnade features angels etched on a glass wall along with names of contributors to the project; this serves as a sound barrier for freeway sounds below.
The Cathedral of Our Lady is located at 555 West Temple St., Los Angeles. A parking garage is located beneath. Call (213) 680-5200 for more information.
Literally around the corner from the cathedral is another landmark with religious significance, the Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial.
In 1846, President James K. Polk recruited a battalion of 500 male members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Iowa to aid the U.S. Army in the Mexican-American War. They then traveled to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where they were outfitted with weapons for their duties, and continued on to Santa Fe, New Mexico, finally arriving in San Diego, California in January of 1847.
The Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial, located on the west side of Hill St., just north of the Hollywood Fwy., commemorates the long march of the Mormon Battalion under very extreme conditions and the fort they helped build in Los Angeles on this site.
The memorial consists of large terra cotta panels celebrating the raising of the U.S. flag over the fort as well as the agricultural, spiritual and transportation influences that helped shape Los Angeles in the 19th century. There is also a 68-foot high pylon featuring a huge American eagle, as well as a low wall along the sidewalk depicting the 1100 mile march of the Mormon Battalion.
