Wandering Wednesday took us leaf peeping up Hwy 21. Before we left Hillsboro we spotted a beautiful eagle soaring high above us. What a thrill, what a majestic bird!
The Cathedral Basilica located at 4431 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, was our destination today. As we pulled into the parking lot our lips were already talking about the size and beauty of the building which reached skyward. The wooden arched front doors were dauntingly impressive as we pushed them open to enter a massive entrance area.
Church Tour in St. Louis
The tour began at 1, but we were about an hour early, so these two Baptists sat in on mass that was open for anyone to attend. We didn’t want to embarrass ourselves trying to keep up with all the standing, sitting, kneeling and waving, so we sat like two little church mice in the back of the building and observed.
The tour was amazing and we stood in awe as our guide said the mosaic glass tesserae (or glass tiles in my vocabulary) covered 83,000 square feet with 41.5 million pieces & over 7,000 colors. Construction began in 1912 and was completed in 1988.
The hour long tour was informative and the ability to actually touch the tiles made this child-at-heart adult excited knowing she wouldn’t get yelled at when she secretly touched the walls and statues.
Mosaics, what are they?
The mosaics across the tall ceiling and walls depicted many people and stories of the Bible. Our guide was quite knowledgeable, explaining what each scene meant in the life of many Christians throughout history.
Each room we visited was quite unique and had its own beauty built within the walls and ceilings. The main auditorium floor was covered with a mass of long pews, each row longing for parishioners to come daily for worship and prayer.
Michelangelo’s Pieta on display
A beautiful bronze, life-sized replica of Michelangelo’s Pieta was on display near the chapel. The 24-year-old completed his original in two years. This being a replica, I can only imagine what the original would look like sculpted in marble. The website stated it was a temporary display.
All the fun is not upstairs
Be sure to visit the basement of the Basilica. It held several interesting artifacts from its history. It also had an interesting and informative display of the process of how the builders constructed the mosaics.
A Tour and a Story
As we left the building the guard told us a story. He said there was a family named Lead, (pronounced as lead pipe), who’s daughter fell in love and became engaged. The couple didn’t get along and eventually the man broke the engagement. The girl was heartbroken but in time she got through the heartache.
The girl fell in love again and became engaged. The couple fell apart and the man broke the engagement. The girl was once again heartbroken, but in time she rebounded.
For the third time the girl fell in love and was engaged. The poor girls fiancé once again broke the engagement. The girl was devastated and knew she couldn’t go on. She decided to end her life and wrote a suicide letter to her family. In the letter she expressed her love to her family and stated for the rest of her life she could not be “Miss Lead”. Yes, that guard sucked us right in!
I’m Here for the Food
Trattoria Giuseppe, an authentic Italian Restaurant and located at 5442 Old Missouri 21, Antonia, MO served our evening meal of Cajun Shrimp Alfredo. Yep it was Cajun and yep my mouth burned, but it was delicious.
From the Cathedral Basilica to Trattoria Giuseppe’s Restaurant, our Wandering Wednesdays didn’t disappoint.