text: seven walking tours through historic Philadelphia

Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul

Ben Franklin Parkway 18

Opposite the monument, across Race Street, was the residence of the cardinal of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Behind the residence, the reddish brownstone Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, built between 1846 and 1864, dominates the area. Napoleon Le Brun, who designed the Academy of Music, and John Notman, whose buildings include the Athenaeum and the Church of the Holy Trinity, were the architects. Its Palladian facade and copper dome are in the Italian Renaissance manner, and the interior is spacious with magnificent proportions reminiscent of Roman churches. It was largely decorated by Constantino Brumidi (1805-90), who painted the dome of the Capitol in Washington. A baldachin over the main altar and the three altars on each of the side aisles point up this Italian Renaissance flavor.

Benjamin Franklin Parkway