Photo of the Day: Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah GA

I took this photograph while on vacation two weeks ago in Savannah. The memory of the first time I saw the Cathedral of St.John the Baptist, back in late October 1999, had lingered with me, and I wanted to make sure during my one-day trip back to the city that I took a shot of this cathedral built in the French Gothic style.

Luckily, the city trolley tour I took had a stop at East Harris Street, so I was able to snap this shot as well as several others inside, which I’ll post at a later time.

Far more people than I have been captivated by this building’s beauty. Today, an estimated 150,000 people visit this religious institution annually. Earlier this year, readers of TripAdvisor voted the cathedral one of their “Top 10 U.S. Landmarks” (a list that also includes, among other sites, Gettysburg, the Lincoln Memorial, and the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii).

Two years after this building was completed in 1896, a fire destroyed all but the outside walls and the two spires. Rebuilding began immediately, but it was not until 1912 that the redecoration of the interior was finished.

Speaking of the spires: Cathedral parishioners’ quarterly newsletter is called “The Twin Spires.” They truly represent an imposing landmark in a city filled with them.