Today
we visited the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, Whole Foods, The Barnes Foundation, and a frozen yogurt place. At the Basilica, our tour guide, Louise, showed us around the altar, the many paintings and sculptures, and we saw the famous “cathedra” that was made for the Pope to sit in when he visited. We also went into the shrine where people are baptized. The cathedral church (Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul) is the principal church of the diocese, because it is here that the bishop as local ordinary of the diocese has his throne (chair), called the cathedra. Open since 1864 and located at the East side of Logan Square on 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is the largest brownstone structure in Philadelphia and the largest Catholic Church in Pennsylvania.
At Whole Foods, we ate a variety of foods from sushi to ribs. One student even indulged in eating an entire rotisserie chicken!
In the afternoon, we headed to the Barnes Foundation, which could also be considered a sacred space as it houses many amazing works of art and the building itself is quite impressive. Architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsein the impressive Barnes campus, which is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway not far from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We saw rooms filled with beautiful works of art.
To conclude our day, we walked to Whirled Peace for a delicious treat. We all enjoyed frozen yogurt and a sunny stroll on the Parkway to our bus.
Over all this was a great experience, and we look forward to visiting our final sacred space tomorrow, the Penn Museum!