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St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church

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1915, Edward T. P. Graham. Bow and Arrow sts.
  • St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church (Keith Morgan)

A beacon on the Cambridge skyline, the campanile of St. Paul's Church vies for attention with the towers of the Harvard Houses along the river or with Memorial Church (HY12) in Harvard Yard. At closer range, the church and tower dominate a small piazza (complete with sidewalk tables) at the intersection of Bow and Arrow streets, a small piece of misplaced Italian cityscape. Edward T. P. Graham used the brick architecture of Romanesque Verona as inspiration for this important complex—Torre del Commune for the campanile and San Zeno Maggiore for the church proper. The church vibrates with attention to small detail, in its complicated brickwork competing with extensive cast-stone ornament throughout. The complex incorporates the adjacent St. Paul's School (29 Mount Auburn Street), built originally by Patrick Ford in 1889 and replaced by a new building (Koetter Kim Associates) in 1991. Across Mount Auburn Street from the rear of the church, the former rectory (1924, 32–36 Mount Auburn Street) now provides affordable housing.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Data

What's Nearby

Rosovsky Hall, Harvard Hillel
Harvard Clubs and Gold Coast Dormitories
Harvard Yard Libraries
The Edges of Harvard Yard
Quincy Street Corridor

Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church", [Cambridge, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-HS6.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Massachusetts

Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 335-335.

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