Saint Matthew's Cathedral and Rectory

Architect: Heins & LaFarge
Year: 1840
Style: Byzantine
City: Washington, DC

St. Matthew's Cathedral, seat of the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, traces to a parish founded in 1840 under Archbishop Samuel Eccleston, when the first St. Matthew's Church went up at 15th and H Streets. By 1890 that church had become too small, and Monsignor Thomas Sim Lee purchased the Rhode Island Avenue property that became the current Byzantine Revival cathedral, designed by Heins & LaFarge.

the style

The cathedral is built in Byzantine Revival style, distinguishing it from the Gothic and Romanesque churches more typical of American Catholic cathedrals of the era.

the architect

Heins & LaFarge were noted for ecclesiastical commissions, a specialty borne out in this cathedral design.

significance

St. Matthew's is a DC Historic Landmark (#L_0163), a National Register contributing property, and listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the DC Inventory of Historic Sites. It is best known as the cathedral where President John F. Kennedy's funeral Mass was held.

nearby

General Federation of Women's Clubs Headquarters 220 ft · Renaissance Revival
Elizabeth Arden Building 380 ft · Colonial Revival
Sumner, Charles School 0.1 mi · Second Empire · 1872
Mayflower Hotel 0.1 mi · Beaux-Arts
Moore, Clarence, House (Old Canadian Embassy) 0.1 mi · Beaux-Arts
Waggaman–Ray Commercial Row 0.2 mi · Neoclassical

All 315 buildings in Washington, DC