Patterned after York Minster, this English Gothic church sits on the peak of the ridge, so that its outsized towers are visible for miles.
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Mount Lebanon Evangelical Presbyterian Church
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More Reflections of St. Paul’s
The Software Engineering Institute gives us an unending parade of reflections of the landmarks around it. The curved wall at the main entrance is particularly productive of interesting effects. Below, for example, what appears to be a reflection of the twin spires of St. Paul’s is actually, on closer examination, the same spire reflected twice.
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Merry Christmas
Transept entrance to St. Paul’s Cathedral, with Christmas wreaths flanking it.
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Potomac Avenue, Dormont
One of the most pleasant shopping streets in the South Hills, Potomac Avenue has a remarkable variety of things to do in a short space. There are coffeehouses, restaurants, an undivided neighborhood movie palace still showing movies, a wine shop, a bakery, a bookstore, a large and well-stocked Turkish-Russian grocery, an oriental-rug dealer, and a streetcar stop on the Red Line (Potomac) that makes it all accessible.
The old Dormont Presbyterian Church (now North Way Christian Community) dominates the street in just the right way.
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Valley View Presbyterian Church
This pretty little church stands on the Stanton Heights corner of the intersection where Stanton Heights, Garfield, and East Liberty meet on city planning maps. We might identify it as Romanesque by its round arches, but the general form, square with a corner tower, seems more Arts and Crafts.
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St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral
The classical style of this church, which is now the cathedral for the Metropolis of Pittsburgh, is quite unusual for a Greek Orthodox church. Greek Christians do not usually build in a Greek classical style—and the style of this church, with the prominent arch in the front, is more Roman than Greek. The explanation is that it was built for Methodists; the Orthodox congregation bought it from them.
Even if you don’t know much Greek, you can probably guess that this is the name of the church in Greek: “St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral Church.”
One of the splendid Ionic capitals that hold up a front of which Vitruvius would have approved.
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St. Mary of the Mount at Sunrise
The first rays of morning sun strike St. Mary of the Mount Church on Mount Washington.
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A Romanesque Church for Sale
This charming little church was most recently used as a law office; but the lawyers are moving out, and here is your chance to have an architecturally unique studio, office, or even residence on the South Side. It is about the same height and depth as the rowhouses next door, but comes with its own corner parking lot.
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St. Casimir’s, South Side
In a crowded neighborhood with narrow streets, getting a picture of a large church like this is almost impossible without resorting to computer trickery. Fortunately old Pa Pitt has never been above computer trickery, and this is actually a composite of two photographs. The seams are nearly invisible, but if you look closely, you may notice the same pedestrian appearing twice at different points on the sidewalk.
Like many Catholic churches in the city, this one is no longer a worship site. Protestant churches can straggle on for decades with a dozen people showing up on Sunday, but the top-down organization of the Catholic Church makes it almost inevitable that decisions will be made on the basis of efficiency. St. Casimir’s, like the school formerly attached to it, is now condominium apartments.
Below, the distinctive towers, one of which is missing a column.
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Defying the Storm
Spires of the Tabernacle of the Union Baptist Church, South Side, Pittsburgh, highlighted in evening sun against a stormy sky.
