THE CATHEDRAL OF THE MADELEINE

Salt Lake City actually boasts an interesting Roman Catholic cathedral.  Who knew?  During our recent visit to Salt Lake City to visit family, I took the opportunity to shoot the cathedral's interior.  Actually, I took some photos in this venue on our previous visit last December.  However, on this visit I had my tripod, which allowed me to get some shots with less noise.  The exposures of all of the photos in this post ranged from 1.3 to 3.0 seconds.  In addition, I now have a full frame sensor camera, which allowed me to capture wider angled images.

So . . . as usual, my first shots were from the rear of the nave looking toward the sanctuary.  Here's one, taken from a low angle.

While the architecture is fairly typical for religious venues of this vintage--completed in 1909--and style, the same cannot be said for the color scheme.  In a phrase . . . not exactly to my taste.  But at least it is colorful.

One of the cathedral's outstanding elements is its pipe organ, situated, as usual in the balcony at the rear of the nave.  Here, first, is a photo of the organ from in front of the sanctuary, looking toward the rear.

The organ includes an interesting array of trumpet pipes that extend horizontally from the front of the balcony, and I wanted to get a shot toward the ceiling that would include those trumpets.

Visible in above shot is an interesting star-shaped mural above the sanctuary.  As is usually the case, entry into the sanctuary was prohibited, so I was unable to capture the mural using the technique of placing the camera on the floor pointing straight up.  Here is the closest to a vertical shot that I could get of that mural.  Still interesting, I think.

And here is a closeup of the angels at the heart of the mural.

The apse is way too complicated for my taste, but here it is, complete with a star-filled ceiling.

Again, it might have been interesting to get a vertical shot of that ceiling, but that was not an option.

I did take a closer look of the Christ figure at the back of the apse.

Now a few shots to round out the post.  First, a shot of the ceiling.

Pretty mundane, really.

Next a shot of the ceiling of one of the side aisles.

Finally, a photo of the rear of the nave that I took from a low angle.

I did like the triple arches in the rear as well as the reflections off the polished floor.

It remains surprising to me that so many Catholic churches are open to visitors at most hours of the day.  I am just grateful to be able to take advantage of that hospitality.

John