St. John's Cathedral

St. John’s Cathedral, located in Lafayette Square, is rightly called the “Church of Presidents.” After all, the cathedral is almost near the White House. Every president who has ever served as head of state has come to this church at least once. This tradition was founded in 1815, immediately after the opening of the Cathedral, President James Madison, who chose the 28th bench, which has since become "presidential".

Since the appearance of the bench for U.S. rulers, the seats have undergone several numbering changes. Now the “Presidential Bench” is number 54, it was fenced off from seats for ordinary parishioners. This bench was designed by Henry Latrobe, a restorer of the Capitol and the White House in the postwar years.

The church building is shaped like a Greek cross made of plastered brick. The project belongs to Benjamin Latrob, who built the American Capitol. The first rector of St. John's Cathedral was the Rev. William Dickinson Hawley, who held this post from 1817 to 1845. At the same time, he was chaplain of the Senate.

The bell of the cathedral deserves special attention. It weighs about 450 kilograms, it was cast by Joseph Rever in Boston. There were two such bells in Washington, but only one, placed in the bell tower of St. John’s Cathedral in 1822, continues to function.