Becky's DiMattia's photos of Back Bay Landmarks

First Church in Boston

Posted on 07/03/2014 by Becky

66 Marlborough Street, (corner of Berkeley Street), Boston, MA see map | wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Church_in_Boston

“The church was created in 1630 when settlers constructed a meeting house two years after arriving in what is now Charlestown, MA. The original structure was near what is now State Street. The church eventually transformed into a theologically liberal Unitarian Universalist congregation by the mid-nineteenth century, along with many of the other state churches in Massachusetts.

In the nineteenth century, the First Church moved to Back Bay in Boston. The building at 66 Marlborough Street in Boston dated from 1867 and was designed by Boston architects William Robert Ware and Henry Van Brunt. After a fire in 1968, First Church and Second Church merged and built a new building at the same location. This building, by architect Paul Rudolph, incorporates part of the facade of the 1867 building. ” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Church_in_Boston

Post category: churches

First Baptist Church of Boston

Posted on 07/03/2014 by Becky

110 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA (at the corner of Clarendon and Commonwealth) see map | firstbaptistboston.org | Founded in 1665

Some of the features of the sanctuary are:

Organ: A Hook and Hastings instrument, built in the mid 1800’s. Some of the pipes, however, were part of an instrument built by Samuel Green in England about 1790. Originally a tracker organ operating by mechanical means, it has been rebuilt and now functions by electricity.

Tiffany Glass Window: Depicting the baptism of Jesus is a stained glass window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Given to the Church in 1906 by Samuel B. Hopkins in memory of his wife, Rebecca Frasher Hopkins.

Three Rose Windows: (One over each balcony) Of unusual beauty; Norman in style, with floral motifs.

Jewel Window: (rear of sanctuary on North side) Little is known of the origin and history of this window, but its bright floral beauty is well worth noting.

Tablet to Henry Dunster: Given to the Church in 1907 by Dunster’s descendants.

Bust of Rollin Neale: (at the right of the platform) Second longest ministry, 1837-1879. “Noble and kindly,” apparently loved by his parishioners.

– firstbaptistboston.org/

Bell Tower: Frieze of Angels, Frederic Auguste Bartholid, 1872

Is has been said that if Bartholdi had not created the Statue of Liberty, he would be totally forgotten today. Architect H. H. Richardson, famed for his brownstone Romanesque public buildings, designed this as the Brattle Square Church in 1872. He commissioned the French sculptor Bartholdi to cut the decorative frieze to terminate its flat-topped Italianate belltower. The bas-reliefs on the four sides represent baptism, communion, matrimony, and death. Thanks to the angels sounding trumpets on the four corners, the building was nicknamed the Church of the Holy Bean Blowers. Some of the angels may look familiar: Bartholdi used the faces of Lincoln, Emerson, Longfellow, Hawthorne, and Garibaldi.

— Marty Carlock, “A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston,” Harvard Common Press, 1993.

Invalid Displayed Gallery

Post category: churches
Tags: Bartholdi, bell tower, organ, Richardson, sculptures, stained glass, Tiffany

Emmanuel Church

Posted on 07/03/2014 by Becky

15 Newbury Street, Boston, MA see map | emmanuelboston.org
Episcopal church, founded in 1860

Emmanuel Center
Emmanuel Center is an interfaith partnership between Emmanuel Church and Boston Jewish Spirit, promoting the intersection of spiritual ideals, artistic creativity, education and community service. The center’s home is in historic Emmanuel Church,

The Leslie Lindsey Memorial Chapel
The Lindsey Chapel holds pride of place as a Back Bay architectural jewel. Built specifically as a Lady chapel and memorial to Leslie Lindsey Mason, it seats about 125 people. For images of its windows, architectural details, and an index to the rich array of saints portrayed in it, please see our History of the Lindsey Chapel.

Post category: churches
Tags: Newbury Street, stained glass

Christian Science Center

Posted on 07/03/2014 by Becky

The reflecting pool in the Christian Science Plaza shows off the First Church of Christ, Scientist (with the dome) adjoining the original First Church of Christ, Scientist (with the belltower) as well as 101 Belvidere Street (on the right).

Huntington Avenue, between Massachusetts Avenue and Belvidere Street, Boston, MA see map | website

The Christian Science Center is the home of the First Church of Christ, Scientist (The Mother Church) and the administrative headquarters of the Christian Science Church. Designed in the 1960s by the firm of I.M. Pei, the 14-acre Christian Science Plaza (or Christian Science Center), consists of the following buildings: