General Information
The Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew, known simply as St. Matthew's Cathedral, is an Episcopal cathedral church in Dallas, Texas.
The cathedral is the official seat of the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas and is sometimes called the mother church of the diocese. It is listed by the Texas Historical Commission as a historic landmark.
The Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew remains at the Saint Mary's campus. The former chapel for the college was expanded and continues as the cathedral for the Diocese of Dallas today.
In addition, the cathedral houses a notable collection of Victorian era paintings, many of which were gifts to Saint Mary's Episcopal College for Women, and feature Saint Mary.
In October 2013, the Justus Sundermann Art Gallery opened which features exhibits of local artists.
The church is constructed in the Gothic Revival. The college chapel, dating from 1907, was designed in the traditional shape of a Latin cross. In 1929, the chapel was enlarged to hold the large congregation of the cathedral, changing the proportions of the traditional cross configuration. Prior to the expansion, the bell tower was located at the northwest corner of the structure. Today, the tower occupies a site on the north faḉade. The interior of the three-story bell tower is very small with a ladder and openings that permit only a person of small stature to enter. Cornerstones, plaques, and stained glass windows from the earlier locations of the cathedral are incorporated around the cathedral close.
The central stained-glass window of Saint Mary's Episcopal College for Women was the Nativity scene, and on each side of it are windows relating to patron saints of women. Rather than replace these windows with the cathedral's patron Saint Matthew, a stained-glass window of Saint Matthew was installed in the south transept. Many of the windows came from prior structures and were installed in the 1970s. Other windows depict the Resurrection, the Stations of the Cross, the sacraments, and the founding fathers of the church. Because of the church's location in Texas, some windows contain unusual images, such as cowboys, Native Americans, and a stagecoach.
The oratory and Great Hall are in the modern style, the Oratory contains a columbarium.
The Great Hall, constructed in 1955, holds a large parish hall with stage and two industrial kitchens. When the cathedral moved to its present location, it brought the Great Matthew Bell that dates from 1870. It was recast to its present size of 1,500 lb (680 kg) in 1888. Because the bell tower could not hold the immense bell and it was placed on a bell-cot that incorporates an 1899-plaque marking the 25th anniversary of the cathedral. The cot is located adjacent to the Great Hall.
The foyer of the Great Hall contains several stained glass works, including a Tiffany window from the previous cathedral.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew (Dallas)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
