Monumental Church

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Monumental Church
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
An aerial view of Monumental Church. The Egyptian Building is just behind it. The Nursing Education building was recently demolished by MCV-VCU
An aerial view of Monumental Church. The Egyptian Building is just behind it. The Nursing Education building was recently demolished by MCV-VCU
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Coordinates: 37°32′20″N 77°25′48″W / 37.53889, -77.43Coordinates: 37°32′20″N 77°25′48″W / 37.53889, -77.43
Built/Founded: 1812
Architect: Mills, Robert
Architectural style(s): Greek Revival
Added to NRHP: April 16, 1969
NRHP Reference#: 69000326[1]
Governing body: Private

Monumental Church is an Episcopal Church built to commemorate the 72 people who died in an 1811 theater fire in Richmond, Virginia. It was designed by architect Robert Mills and constructed between 1812 and 1814. Deconsecrated in 1965, it was given by the Medical College of Virginia to the Historic Richmond Foundation, an affiliate of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

It sits in the Court End neighborhood of Richmond. In 2006, regular tours began, in cooperation with the Valentine Richmond History Center's Court End Passport.

In 2004 as Monumental Church underwent a significant renovation,during which a monument to the 72 people killed in the fire was replaced by an exact replica. The bodies of the victims are still in a brick crypt below the church.

The documentary Saving Grace-Resurrecting American History, written and directed by Emmy winning writer/director Eric Futterman, follows the process of using laser scanning to recreate the monument in computers, then sending the data to Ireland, where stonecutters used both high tech computer equipment and old-fashioned stone-cutting to create a new 7,000 pound monument.

[edit] References

  1. ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).

[edit] External links