The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-07-21

or cathedral of the Pope. over its chief
portal is a Latin inscription, which,
translated, means Mother and head
of all the churches of the city and Of
! the world" Its chief4ltar covers an
other ancient altar, at which st. Peter
offfciated. Here none but the Pope can
offer up the adorable sacrifice of the
mass. In splendor, beauty and gran
deur the Roman cathedral does not
compare with the basilica of st. Peter.
The site on which St. Peter stands
dates back to the year 80, when Pope
Anacletus. who is said 70 have been
consecrated by st. Peter, erected an
oratory there, being the spot in which
the chief Apostle was laid to rest after
his crucifixion. Constantine in the year
500 built a basilica on the same place.
In 1850 the present st. Peters was COM
menced by Pope Nicholas V. From its
foundation till dedicated 175 years
elapsed. It's dimensions from figures
can hardly be realized. The length of
the interior is 61312 feet; height Of
nave. 1927 feet: length of transept
from wall to wall, 44614 feet; of side
aisles, 33%4 feet; side aisles, AZ feet:
width of nave, 77.S9 feet: circumfer-
ence of pillars which support the dome,
253 feet. The cupola is 1913 feet in di-
ameter The height of dome from the
pavement to the base of the lantern is
4O3 feet; to the top of the cross, 44S feet
In antiquity st. Peters antedates all
cathedrals; in magnitude none equals
it
The present cathedral of Milan was
in 1887. The ground plan
is a Latin cross terminated by an apsis.
Its dimensions are 4S6x252 feet; between
the walls of the transept, 2SS feet;
height of the crown of the vaulting,
1853 feet; from the pavement to the top
of statue, 335 feet. The first cathedral
was destroyed by Attila in the fifth
century. The second was injured by
fire.
The cathedral of Florence was COM
menced in 1898 and completed in 1914.
Its length is 500 feet; the transept, 900
feet; the nave, 1913 feet high; the side
aisles, 9615 feet; the cupola, octagonal
in form, is 1885, feet in diameter, and
in height from cornice of the drum to /
the eye of the dome, 1872 feet. Critics !
pronounce it the most beautiful of the |
Italian-Gothic style. It's dome was used |
as a model by Michael Angelo for st. |
Peters
In our own times, and by the present
ST Patrick's cathedral of |
New York, built by our first cardinal, !
oespeaks the vitality of the Catholic
church, it's architectural design, which
embraces beauty, grace and symmetry,
brings the mind back to the past ages
when people generously shared with
he Almighty to build Him a suitable
dwelling place.
The new cathedral now in course OF
erection in Salt Lake, and of which the
.orner stone will be laid next Sunday,
will ever stand as a monument to the
of those who made its cree
ion possible; whilst it will at the same
ime perpetuate the memory of the first
Bishop of Salt Lake as a man of en-
,rgy, devotion and zeal.
This edifice stands at the corner Oh
south Temple and B streets, west Of
he residence of Ri. Rev. L. Seaman.
The main building is 100 feet long on
; street, 103 feet wide over the south
,ell towers. "A feet over the main body
nd 100 feet wide over the transepts.
The towers will be 900 feet high from
he sidewalk and the ridge of the main
oof 10 feet above the same level.
There is a basement under the entire
fourteen feet high in the clear
nd the main floor will contain, besides
eats for 1,5OO worshipers, large en-
rance vestibules, baptistry, stairs to
large choir gallery, a sanctuary Six
0 feet. with two devotional affairs, two
ide vestibules, an ambulatory and two
lrge vestTies.
The height from floor to apex of
aulting is sixty-five feet.
The building will be approached by a
magnificent double set of granite steps
nd terraces.
The entire outside will be of gray
andstone while the interior construe-
ion, vaulting, etc, will be mostly of
teel construction.
The style of architecture, which is
arefully carried through outside and
aside, will be a late Romanesque of
he eleventh century.