Continue another block, and on the corner of Virginia Street and Selby Avenue is the green wood frame Virginia Street Swedenborgian Church. The church was built in 1886. It was designed by Cass Gilbert, architect of the Minnesota State Capitol. The simple yet elegant interior of the church is in almost original condition, and may be visited when no service or event is in progress.
You've been looking at this since you started walking. The magnificent Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Paul is another few blocks further on, on your left. It is the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
It was designed by architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, also the chief architect of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Construction began in 1906 and was competed by 1915.
Considered to be one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the United States, it is constructed almost entirely from Minnesotan marble, travertine and granite. The interior has a stunning open design, Masqueray envisioned a church where all the congregation would be able to hear and see Mass.
The interior is lit by 24 stained glass windows, and the building is topped by a copper clad dome and a 30-foot lantern.
Anyone may attend Mass, but if you wish to explore the cathedral you can only do so when there is no service. The cathedral is also closed to visitors on holidays and holy days. Service times are listed on the cathedral's website. Free tours are given several times a week, again check the cathedral's website for times and dates.
If you can't visit the inside of the cathedral, the outside is certainly magnificent too. You are now at the top of Cathedral Hill, and can look out across the skyscrapers of downtown St. Paul, and see St. Paul's other famous dome, the Minnesota State Capitol.
