Princeton University Chapel

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Construction of the Princeton University Chapel began in 1924 and the structure was completed in 1928, at a cost of $2.4million, it is the second-largest in the United States (behind that of Valparaiso University, and the third-largest in the world, behind the chapel at King's College in Cambridge, England[1]. It was designed by Ralph Adams Cram, previously of Boston's architectural firm Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, leading proponents of the Gothic revival style, and, since 1907 the University's supervising / consulting architect, and replaced the Marquand Chapel, destroyed by fire in 1920.

The style of this 270-foot-long, 76-foot-high, cruciform (Latin cross) church is collegiate Gothic, and is made largely from Pennsylvania sandstone and Indiana limestone. It seats 2000 people, many in pews made from wood intended for Civil War era gun carriages, and with the seats in the chancery made from oak from the Sherwood Forest. The 16th Century pulpit was brought from France. The primary pipe organ has 8000 pipes and 109 stops, and was restored in 1999 by the English firm N. P. Mander Ltd. The 27 stained glass windows by Nicola d'Ascenzo (1871–1954) cover over 4,000 square feet (400 m²)[2], and were restored in 2001 by Femenella & Associates.

The chapel also displays a flag of the USS Princeton, a World War II aircraft carrier sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. [3]

[edit] Books and printed materials

Stillwell, Richard. The Chapel of Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1971)

Leitch, Alexander. A Princeton Companion. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978). Text available on-line here.

[edit] External links

• Princeton's extensive Chapel web-tour
• Princeton's 4 part mp3 tour and printable PDF
• Princeton Orange Key Tour website-Princeton University Chapel
• Princeton University Office of Religious Life
• Princeton University Chapel Choir
• Reference from A Princeton Companion
• Stained Glass Restoration Project

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