My experience at the National Cathedral in Washington DC

Over the summer on our annual church choir tour we traveled to Washington, DC. While in DC we visited the National Cathedral. The church is a perfect example of a gothic style cathedral. The church is huge and its walls are made of stained glass.  We were able to take a tour of the entire cathedral and go into the radiating chapels. We first entered through the nave as the tour guide talked about the architectural aspects of the church. In the nave we were told about the stained glass and the meanings of each window. Also we were told that the walls were made of the stained glass in order to bring in more light and radiate the church. The ceilings were extremely high and were ribbed vaults. We walked into the further sections including were the choirs sang. There were two choir lofts, one on each side facing each other. The lofts were positioned to were it looked like the choirs would duel against each other. There were at least three different areas of worship. The biggest was the nave which anyone could worship, then there was the area with the choir and a further area in which the priests would be. Later we went into the separate individual chapels which are filled with  different pictures, statues, and sculptures. The whole church was a beautiful experience. It is so much easier to understand the art and gothic style by seeing the church in person.