Princeton University Chapel

Construction of the Princeton University Chapel began in 1924, and the structure was completed in 1928, at a cost of $2.4million. It is the second-largest collegiate chapel in the United States (following that of Duke University), and the third-largest in the world (following the chapel at King's College in Cambridge, England [http://www.princeton.edu/~oktour/virtualtour/Hist05-ChapelHistory.htm] ). It was designed by Ralph Adams Cram, previously of Boston's architectural firm Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, leading proponents of the Gothic revival style, and, since 1907 the University's supervising / consulting architect. It replaced the Marquand Chapel, destroyed by fire in 1920.

The cruciform cathedral is designed in the collegiate Gothic style, standing 76 feet high and 270 feet long, and is made largely from Pennsylvania sandstone and Indiana limestone. It seats 2000 people, many in pews made from wood intended for Civil War era gun carriages, and in chancery seats made from oak from the Sherwood Forest. The 16th century pulpit was brought from France. The primary pipe organ has 8000 pipes and 109 stops, and was restored in 1999 by the English firm N. P. Mander Ltd. The 27 stained glass windows by Nicola d'Ascenzo (1871–1954) cover over convert|4000|sqft|m2|-2 [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60F1EFE35580C708CDDAF0894D9404482] , and were restored in 2001 by Femenella & Associates.

The chapel also displays a flag of the USS "Princeton", a World War II aircraft carrier sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. [http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/04/1108/3a.shtml]

Books and printed materials

Stillwell, Richard. The Chapel of Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1971)

Leitch, Alexander. A Princeton Companion. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978). Text available on-line [http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/university_chapel.html here] .

External links

* [http://web.princeton.edu/sites/chapel/history.html Princeton's extensive Chapel web-tour]
* [http://web.princeton.edu/sites/chapel/tours.html Princeton's 4 part mp3 tour and printable PDF]
* [http://www.princeton.edu/~oktour/virtualtour/Hist05-ChapelHistory.htm Princeton Orange Key Tour website-Princeton University Chapel]
* [http://web.princeton.edu/sites/chapel/ Princeton University Office of Religious Life]
* [http://www.princeton.edu/~choir/Chapel.htm Princeton University Chapel Choir]
* [http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/university_chapel.html Reference from A Princeton Companion]
* [http://www.femenellaassociates.com/princeton_chapel.htm Stained Glass Restoration Project]