National cathedral

The National Cathedral

This is a huge church built recently but styled after one of the great european gothic cathedrals. While some parts were beautiful done, it felt soulless. I guess it will take many years of prayer and worship to begin to shine like the old 12/13th century cathedrals that we have in the UK and France.

I did not visit all the places in the book and instead I was drawn to the places below:

Chapel of St Mary

The chapel of St Mary is on the left side of the nave and the chapel of St Joseph of Arimathea is in the crypt.

Chapel of St Joseph of Arimathea

Chapel of the Resurrection

Full of stunning mosaics

I tried to spot the Darth Vader gargoyle on the North Tower, but you need binoculars (which I did not have) - so I was unable to check it out. But it is cool that the builders have such a modern take on church carvings.

From - http://www.cathedral.org/about/darthVader.shtml

The Washington National Cathedral is located at 3101 Wisconsin Ave NW at the corner of Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues.

Inside the House of the Temple

The House of the Temple is the headquarters building for the Scottish Rite 33º. 

There are free guided tours and you seem to be able to access all the main areas - including the awesome main temple hall.

The guide said that it is no longer used as there is no air conditioning! 

Fiat Lux - let there be light.

FYI

The House of the Temple is located at 1733 16th St NW.

Introduction

This blog is about my tour of Washington doing my own DIY Lost Symbol tour.

I downloaded Lost Symbol from audible last year and throughly enjoyed listening to the story created by Dan Brown - another classic tale starring Robert Langdon. Lots of intrigue, symbols and puzzles set in a great city. 

The story mostly features Masonic symbols and a "baddie" called Mal'akh. I won't spoil the story by saying what he wants to do.

I followed another blog - explaining how to get around and see the various sites. It is:

http://www.offbeattravel.com/washington-dc-lost-symbol-dan-brown-tour.html

I did not realise that it could be done using public transport. I stupidly hired a car - and got a ticket ($25) in Freedom plaza for my troubles.

Anyway, what follows are posts from each of the different sites.