Cathedral of Saint Helena: The Cathedral of the Rockies
The city of Helena has a cathedral worthy of a European capital. The Cathedral of Saint Helena - twin spires rising 230 feet over the north end of town - was modeled by architect A.O. Von Herbulis after the Votivkirche in Vienna, begun in 1908 and consecrated in 1924. We went for the photographs and stayed for the light.
The Windows
The stars of the show are the stained glass windows, crafted by the F.X. Zettler firm of Munich - the famous studio whose glass fills cathedrals on two continents. There are more than 60 of them here, over 11,000 square feet of art glass, and they are still doing the job those windows were always meant to do: teaching by light, in color, at scale. We caught the stained glass glowing inside and shot the twin spires outside, and it is easily among the most photogenic buildings we have visited all year.
Family in Town
The best part of the day had nothing to do with architecture: our cousin Roxy met us at the cathedral and gave us the grand tour of Helena - a driving loop of the older homes with the history of the area layered over it the way only a local can tell it, then out to lunch at a local spot. Travel advice, free of charge: whatever Helena has, it is better with family in it. We stopped at Costco on the way back to the trailer, because even cathedral days have groceries.