The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-01-27

portions and of the symbolism en-
shrined in it's architectural details:
The idea kept in mind in designing
the Cathedral of st. Paul has been to
obtain a church, which, while entirely
of the twentieth century in feeling and
purpose, would at the same time en-
body in it's composition those second
airy features that gave so much charm
to the old churches of the Middle
Ages. The outline of cross, ambula-
tories between the main body Of the
church and the surrounding chapels
have been retained, with all their re-
ligious symbolism. To accomplish
this and at the same time create
modern structure, the relative proper
lions of the different elements as they
appear in the ancient churches OF
Europe have been modified. The long
and narrow nave and transepts of the
medieval churches have been made
wider and shorter. At their intersec-
ton the great dome has been placed
and becomes the feature of the COM
position, following, in fact, the main
lines of the original plan of st. Peters
in Rome as laid out by Bramante and
Michel Angelo. The main entrance
is under a monumental arch framing
the apse window and through the
three front entrances leading to the
vestibule located under the organ
gallery.
At each end of the vestibule under
the two towers are two chapels, one to
be the founders chapel, and the other
to contain the baptismal font. The
main nave is sixty feet in width and
eighty-four in height, and is flanked by
two large and beautiful chapels, one
consecrated to the Blessed Virgin, and
the other to st. Joseph. Running par
allel to the nave on both sides and
separated from it by imposing piers
are the ambulatories, or passageways,
twelve feet in width, giving easy &C
cess to all parts of the nave and to
the chapels of the Blessed Virgin and
of st. Joseph The great dome is
ninety-six feet in diameter and one
IS hundred and seventy-five feet high in
it's interior elevation. Twenty-four
large windows in the dome bring
flood of light to the sanctuary. On
each side of the dome are the tran
septs, of the same dimensions as those
of the nave, and lighted by great rose
windows similar to the one over the
front entrance. At the end of the
transepts are the entrances to the two
great chapels of st. Peter and of st.
Paul, near which secondary doors
open to Selby and Dayton avenues.
The sanctuary occupies the whole
apse, the dimensions being sixty feet
in width and sixty-five in length. 1t
is surrounded by marble columns sup
porting arches that separate it from
the ambulatory, beyond which are the
chapels Of the nations, six in number,
dedicated to the Apostles Of the sew
eral races from which are derived the
people in the Northwest. AS one sees
at a glance, the ground plan of the in
terror of the Cathedral will be very
open, affording from every part a
clear view of the altar and of the pull
pit and at the same time permitting
a uu0 vi tAC SCSOAOc1Ay CAO-
ments Of the architectural compost
ton, ambulatories, chapels, organ gal
lery, ETC., and adding most picturesque
effects and religious atmosphere to
the monumental ensemble. The seat
ing capacity is three thousand in
pews, and one thousand more in re-
movable chairs.
The exterior is frank architectural
expression of the. interior and Is dis
tinguished by broad treatment Of wall
surfaces and dignity of proportions,
the ornamented parts being grouped
at points where they will be effective
and will emphasize the general archi-
tectural design-chiefy, on the main
front, the towers, the sides, the en-
frances and the dome. The building
material used is light gray-pink
granite, full of quartz which, under
the light Of the sun, sparkles like
nrecious stones. The texture being