Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

The University of Chicago Memorial Chapel is named after John Davidson Rockefeller, the first US dollar billionaire. Rockefeller was distinguished by true piety and led an active charitable activity. He donated $80 million to the University of Chicago.

On December 13, 1913, while making his last monetary gift to the University, Rockefeller indicated that money should be spent on the creation of the chapel as a spiritual center uniting students.

The chapel building was designed by the famous American architect Bertram Goodhue. He did not live to see the beginning of construction, but the performers accurately reproduced his ideas. The result was a majestic building 78 meters long and 31 meters wide. More than a hundred stone sculptures representing philosophy and the humanities, religion and real people involved in the life of the university adorn the chapel outside. The vaulted ceiling is covered with mosaic tiles, which is the only known example of the use of colored tiles in a Gothic vaulted ceiling. Window stained glass windows are made in pastel tones of purple, amber, pale blue and pale yellow-green colors, so as not to distract the attention of parishioners from the refined beauty of sculptures, elegant wood carvings and ceiling ornament.

The chapel has a carillon, the second largest in the world. This musical instrument consists of 72 bells, the total weight of which is 100 tons.