Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine is in many ways the "most." It's the longest-running American construction project, the physically longest, and the most elaborate in terms of its original name — Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the City and Diocese of New York.

Building History

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine is the largest Anglican parish and the fourth largest cathedral in the world. It is located at the intersection of 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in the northwest of Manhattan.

It emerged as an adjunct to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Episcopal Church of New York (especially its representatives involved in Freemasonry) insisted on the construction of an Anglican temple so that all branches of Catholic believers would be satisfied and happy. The project was defined for a long time, a whole 4 years. This laid the foundation for future deliberateness. Construction began in 1892 and, ahead of time, has not been completed to this day.

Construction Challenges

Initially, the cathedral was conceived in the Byzantine-Romanesque style. To ensure maximum stability for the huge volumes, it was decided to start with the installation of eight supporting columns. Each of them weighed 130 tons, and the process of their erection alone took a year. Everything that followed is often associated with mysticism and the fusion of the Freemasons who financed the construction with the devil — the higher this cathedral, the more calamities it gathers.

By the time of its opening in 1941, fifty years of construction had already passed. The cathedral was still not completed. A couple of days later, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and disputes about the Freemasons, their infernal energy, and their creepy temple spread across New York with renewed vigor. Construction halted again. And this happened more than once.

What's Happening Today?

A casual visitor may not notice the unfinished state — the most serious work was completed in the 90s. The cathedral truly impresses with its size: the ceiling vaults reach 38 meters in height, and there is a distance of 183 meters from the entrance to the opposite wall.

Along the walls are 32 stone figures of saints, carved by the finest Italian and English craftsmen. Scenes from the Old and New Testaments are depicted on the massive bronze doors, with the figure of Saint John the Divine towering above them.

The stained glass windows are still in a rough state — because the construction of the walls has not yet been completed, it was decided to leave them for later so as not to damage the precious glass. Therefore, parishioners currently see them either in monochrome or made of colored plastic. However, the cathedral houses a total of five organs, one of which is considered the most powerful in the world.

Moreover, the area around looks pleasant and well-maintained. The cathedral is surrounded by a garden, where each plant is somehow mentioned in the Bible. In the garden stands the Fountain of Peace with a sculpture of the archangel Michael defeating Satan. Nearby there is a Catholic school, a building for synodal councils, and a soup kitchen. Everything seems fine, but the cathedral has its own peculiarities.

Conspiracy Theories

If you take a closer look at the pedestals of the statues, you can see a plethora of intriguing scenes. They depict the collapsing Brooklyn Bridge, from which people and cars fly into the Hudson, the flooded Statue of Liberty, and the New York Stock Exchange building...

Of particular interest is the scene of a tsunami in New York: a wave washes away the twin towers of the World Trade Center. This pedestal was installed four years before the 9/11 tragedy. Therefore, among the already frightened Americans, there is a theory circulating that once the cathedral is completed, all these "predictions" will start coming true — as divine punishment for obscure cults.

Whether you believe in mysticism or not, the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine remains intriguing as part of diverse New York. Eclectic and beautiful in its mysterious incompleteness.