Washington National Cathedral

About

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. It is located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was begun in 1907 and formally completed in 1990. It is of Neo-Gothic design closely modeled on English Gothic style of the late fourteenth century and is the second-largest church building in the United States, and the third-tallest building in Washington, D.C. The cathedral is the seat of both the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Over 270,000 people visit the structure annually.

The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, under the first seven bishops of Washington, erected the cathedral under a charter passed by the United States Congress on January 6, 1893. The foundation stone was laid on September 29, 1907 in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt and a crowd of more than 20,000. The cathedral was completed 83 years later, after several phases of construction and yearslong interruptions, in the presence of President George H. W. Bush on September 29, 1990. Decorative and restorative work, particularly of damage from a nearby earthquake in 2011, is ongoing as of 2024. The Foundation is the legal entity of which all institutions on the Cathedral Close are a part; its corporate staff provides services for the institutions to help enable their missions, conducts work of the Foundation itself that is not done by the other entities, and serves as staff for the board of trustees.