Cathedral of St. Helena and Helena Buildings

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Helena is a beautiful city with so much history and so many old and historic buildings and homes.  One of the most beautiful buildings that stands out in the city is the Cathedral of St. Helena which was patterned after the renowned Votive Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Vienna, Austria with two 230 foot spires topped by two six foot wide and twelve feet tall gold crosses that dominate the skyline.  It was completed in 1914. 

Front doors 

The impressive interior features 59 Munich-style stained glass panels that were crafted in Germany by a renowned artist.  Thirty-seven of the windows tell the story from the fall of Adam and Eve to the church in the early years of the 20th century.

The space is dominated by beautiful Carrara marble columns with gold trim and the altar is flanked on either side by huge organ pipes with gold iron gratings behind the altar.  Each of the Stations of the Cross is in what appears to also be marble and are lit from behind.  The ceilings too are magnificent.  

A View Down Center Aisle

Center Altar Area 

right Side Altar= Notice Ceiling

Left Side Altar

Note Organ Pipes
Other half is on other side of center aisle.

Station of the Cross

As we leave the Cathedral for Last Chance Gulch, we suddenly spy this cute little deer wondering down the street.

Before taking the Last Chance Tour Train, we take a walk down Last Chance Gulch Street where prospectors took "one last chance" that paid off in 1864.  The city grew along this gulch and today this historic mile is filled with Victorian era buildings now filled with shops, offices art galleries and restaurants. Several blocks have been closed to traffic though the Last Chance Tour Train does drive up the middle of the street here. 

Fountain showing prospectors panning for gold.

This restored traolley used to be pulled by horses.

We also saw these two murals.

Our last sightseeing for the day was spent on the Last Chance Tour Train for an hour around the city with narration by the engineer of the train about the various buildings and areas of town.

I picked up this guy on the Train

We pass both the current Governor's residence in a modest neighborhood and the old Governor's Mansion which we toured yesterday.  Note what looks like the bow of a ship on the one side of the new residence.

Though we had already taken a drive around a good part of the historic part of the city, it was interesting the learn more of the history of what we had seen.