
Looking for the little blue frog? You’ve come to the right place. Following in the footsteps of Manja and Joey, I am sitting in for Norm today as your host for Thursday Doors. Norm will be back next week, but the door fest continues in his absence, and the gallery is open for business. As for my contribution, I have something special to share – the doors and windows of Heinz Chapel.
Heinz Chapel is a nondenominational chapel located opposite the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus. The French Gothic Revival chapel was gift to the university from Henry John Heinz to honor his mother, Anna Margaretta Heinz (all I ever managed to do was to get my mother a card). The following is from the chapel’s website’s history page:
Ground was broken for the chapel in 1933, the cornerstone was laid in 1934, and the building was dedicated in 1938. At the chapel’s dedication, Howard Heinz spoke for his family when he said of the chapel:
“It is located in a community where my father was born and lived his life. It is on the campus of a university. As part of that university, it is dedicated to culture, an understanding response to beauty, and religious worship.”
In that same ceremony, John Gabbert Bowman, Chancellor of the university said:
“The chapel is designed as a fitting center of worship which in various ways will rise at the University. The character, intensity, the level of that worship may change from generation to generation. The spiritual tide in men rises and falls. Through these changes though, the Chapel will stand, calm and undisturbed.”
Although Thursday Doors is a weekly celebration of doors, I have to include windows in the gallery today because the stained-glass windows of Heinz Chapel are remarkable. Again, from the website:
The 73-foot transept windows, among the tallest in the world, represent the character traits of tolerance, courage, temperance, and truth. A symbol of each trait is in the tracery. The windows, which highlight an equal number of women and men, contain sacred and secular figures from history, literature, and science. A rosette above each set of windows contains a red-winged seraph on the north and a blue-winged cherub on the south.
If you want to see the doors and windows of Heinz Chapel, click on any image in the gallery to start a slide show. If you are here to share your doors, or if you simply want to look at beautiful doors from all over the world, click the little blue frog. He will guide you to the master gallery. I will check in on every Thursday Doors post, but I may be late in getting to them, as I am busy with a construction project. Thank you for joining us today, and if you have been thinking about participating (but haven’t yet, or haven’t in a while) I would urge you to join us next Thursday, October 11th when Norm Frampton, the benevolent and inspiring host of Thursday Doors, will return.
This is a magnificent building. Mother’s don’t get gifts like this anymore 😉
I’ve always loved that name “Cathedral of Learning” and it’s fitting that this beautiful chapel is within its sights.
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Thanks Joanne. Yeah, when was the last time you got a chapel for Mother’s Day?
It was the perfect place to build this chapel. I could have filled six posts with the remarkable planning and the details of those windows. They definitely were thinking ahead.
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I’m going to have to talk to my boys about upping their game in the gift-giving department 😉
On the other hand, the quality of the time they spend with us is extraordinarily special too ❤️
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Ha ha – given the choice, I’d take the time.
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Yay! Now I know who is hosting this week to link. This church has such a medeival feel to it, Dan. You can definitely see the German influence. I am a fanatic for stained glass. The doors are so beautfiul too.
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Thanks Cheryl. The doors are beautiful but there’s no way to visit this chapel and not be impressed by those windows. Even the small ones are beautiful. The large ones are truly works of art. In addition to a lot of religions being represented, many European colleges and most US colleges that had been established are represented in the windows and carvings.
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Maybe I’ll get to see it someday. Meanwhile, we have your lovely posts! Did you visit the church in St Augustine?
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I only saw that church from the outside. I might get back there next year.
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I hope you do. The stained glass and ceiling art is wonderful.
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Those windows are absolutely staggering and the chapel looks very beautiful. Thank you for hosting Thursday Doors this week, the three of you have done a sterling job in Norm’s absence.
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Thanks. It’s fun to fill in for a week. It also reminds me of all that Norm does for us.
I was so lucky to attend daily classes in the Cathedral of Learning and to visit this chapel on many occasions.
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Very lucky indeed.
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[…] is a collection of Normies then. And when you’re done, go to Dan’s and leave a door or more in his good care of the blue frog. Norm is not done with Italy quite […]
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That is one beautiful chapel, heavy and handsome doors, and amazing stained glass. I really like the doors that are rounded at the top. Nice one. :-)
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Thanks Judy. The chapel is so nicely paired with the Cathedral of Learning. The doors really are magnificent but it’s hard to ignore those windows. Like you, I am partial to the arched doorways.
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What a magnificent building!!
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Thanks GP – sitting next to the Cathedral of Learning, makes this area one of my favorite places.
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I can understand why.
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[…] For Norm2.0’s Thursday doors, which today is hosted by No facilities. […]
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Wow!! I gave my Mom flowers too . . .
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You’re pretty young, chapels had probably become passe by the time you could afford one ;-)
Thanks for the giggle.
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My expectations of Mother’s Day will soar after I tell my family about this post, yeah? :P
I really like this quote, “The spiritual tide in men rises and falls.”
The doors are lovely. The northside handicap door, with its texture, is probably my favorite here. Truly, though, the windows are phenomenal! Love the bevels of the stone with the glass. Arcs inside arcs inside arcs. You captured this place beautifully!
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Thanks Joey – Yeah, get ready for Mom’s Day goodies!
There is so much history and so many references carved into the tracery around those windows, and depicted in the glass – they really nailed the vision they had for this chapel. And, they built it to weather the changing interests and varying cultural shifts, and it worked. They get tons of visitors and over 150 weddings each year.
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Beautiful stuff :)
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Alotta love for mom right there! Gorgeous through and through. But I’m ok with my normal gifts of fabric :)
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Ha ha – yeah, I think my wife will met our daughter off the hook – no chapel required. Thanks so much for visiting.
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[…] a thank you to our stand-in hosts the past 3 weeks for our Thursday Doors blogging. Much […]
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[…] #ThursdayDoors is part of an inspired post series run by Norm Frampton, hosted by Dan today. To see other doors of interest, or to share your own, click the link and find the frog. […]
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Magnificent is most definitely the word to describe this church. This is the kind of place I like to enter and have total silence. It seems almost to sacred to say a word inside.
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Thanks. It is so pretty inside, Lois. We stayed very quiet. I attended some services there where there were periods of reflection in silence. It is remarkable.
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OMG! I am in love with those windows. I love the chapel pictures and the history that you mentioned. Excellent photography, Dan.
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Thanks Sharukh. The windows are beautiful, and they tell such interesting stories. There are so many people and places represented in them, both religious and secular, but all in very good taste.
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A truly magnificent-looking chapel, Dan. But I have to be honest — I’m not quite loving those exterior doors! At least not on THIS building. Typically I like a nice dark red statement door, but for some reason, for me, they’re just not matching this chapel. I think the rounded edges shape is really throwing me off… But fantastic pictures today!
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Thanks, Wendy. I never thought about the colors. I’m not sure what might work better, but then again, my opinion on colors is always suspect. In any case, it has always been the windows that made my day when I visit this chapel.
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What a gorgeous place, Dan! Thanks for sharing and thanks for hosting, although I probably need to change the name the intro to my post. :-)
janet
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Thanks Janet. Hosting has been fun, and I like being able to give a little back to Norm. I’ve long wanted to feature this chapel, but the stars haven’t aligned for us. The first time Faith and I were there, our camera batteries died once we got inside. On other visits, there have been weddings. This time is was open for tours.
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[…] problem about being an avid participant in Thursday Doors is that everywhere I go, I look for and at doors as I did in Luxeuil. My s-i-l is used to me […]
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Great job with this photo presentation of the chapel. I love so many of these photos. Remarkable building all around. I also see that you are now plopping the watermark to your photos. I used to do that but don’t any more, too much hassle. May I ask what spurred you on?
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Thanks Manja. As unlikely as it is that the copyright will help, I found on of my photos being used on another (commercial) site. I would have given them permission, if they had asked. I use Lightroom, so, once I got the image in the right place and the right size, it’s just a setting. It’s automatically placed on whne I export the lower resolution images.
The chapel is remarkable. I’ve loved it since I was a little kid. The windows seemed even bigger then, but they still are amazing to me.
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Great post. interesting information with terrific pictures. Thanks for hosting Thursday doors.
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My pleasure, Helen. Thanks for the comment.
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Dude….. if they call that a chapel, I’d love to see what they call a cathedral.
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It is pretty remarkable, and it begs the question, what did you do for your mom?
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What a glorious gift and tribute! The windows are lovely. I can only imagine how grand they must be in person.
I love the wise quotes from both Heinz, and the Chancellor.
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Thanks Deborah. In all the things they did, they seemed to anticipate the way things would change over time. I think it’s so interesting that in the 1930s, they featured an equal number of men and women from history.They included religious, secular, and historic references in the windows and in the carvings around the windows. They also included seals from major universities around the world.
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Lovely building.
Thanks also for hosting the get-together this week.
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Thanks, and you’re welcome – hosting was my pleasure.
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[…] of tourists. I waited for families to finish taking their group photos in front of the gaping doorway of the church. The last family was large, and apologized for the long time they were taking. I was […]
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Outstanding, Dan. This is a gorgeous church. Thanks for showing us around
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Thanks John, I’m glad you could join us.
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Dan, wow. Thank you so much for sharing the chapel with us and the Cathedral of Learning. Makes me wonder whether Australia should have its very own Cathedral of Sports. I really loved the stained glass window toos and you’ve done a fabulous job with the lighting in your photos. They’re fantastic.
Thanks for hosting and hope you have a great week.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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Thanks Rowena. I struggled with the light, because it was raining and very dark outside, but I found settings that I liked.
I’ve featured the Cathedral of Learning on several occasions, I had classes in that building during graduate school.
Hosting is my pleasure. I hope you have a great week, too.
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Exquisite photos. I love these old churches and cathedrals, so majestic down to the minute details. Excellent post.
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Thanks. The chapel is a wonderful compliment to the Cathedral of Learning. It was such a nice addition to the central green on an otherwise urban campus.
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You’re doing a fine job as host, Dan. Wow that nondenominational chapel has a truly lovely door. I guess it would have to, being in the shadow of the beautiful Cathedral of Learning. Such amazing places. Thanks for the photo tour. Hugs.
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Thanks Teagan. The architect and the designer of those windows certainly knew what they were doing. The chapel is the perfect companion for the Cathedral of Learning.
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What a magnificent building! The doors are lovely… but oh those windows! I wonder how the craftsmen (I assume men) were able to create such tall stained glass panels… in place, or put together elsewhere, then installed? Either way, it would be quite a production.
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Thanks, I’m so glad you enjoyed this.
I’m guessing the windows are assembled from multiple panels. The designer worked in Boston, so it seems they would have had t travel quite a distance. There are so many windows in the Chapel in addition to the huge transept windows. The chapel is filled with carvings, in stone and wood – it’s really remarkable.
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Holy moly Dan, you really outdid yourself on this one. This building, inside, outside, every nook and cranny, is just magnificent! The heavy, solid doors, the arches, are beyond beautiful. Even the bathroom doors are handsome!
But those windows! I don’t know how they accomplished those unbelievably gorgeous windows, but they are truly works of art. I keep going back just to look at them. The craftsmanship and pride that went into this building is reflected in every inch of it.
Thank you so much for sharing this. You made my day!!
Of course, now I’m gonna have a real hard time next May being happy with my Mother’s Day card!! Lol.
🔹 Ginger 🔹
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Thanks so much Ginger. They have eight months, maybe they could make a start on something small.
The building really is amazing, and they planned everything down to the last pane of stained glass to fit well in this special setting.
I was happy to get the pictures of the doors, but the windows really are the star of this show. I’m so glad you enjoyed this post.
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A magnificent gift – wow -love the stained glass windows, and of course the Gothic architecture is my fave! Oh my- “the truth shall set you free” is well put in this time:):) As always a great intro (text) – Thanks for hosting!
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Thanks! So many of the attributes of this chapel have remained (or ironically have become) appropriate. The chapel matches the Cathedral of Learning very well.
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Hi Dan – both amazing buildings … I’d love to see them. Those windows are tall … while the close up in Wiki of the Tympanum and main doors is quite extraordinary. Delightful architecture to see – grand buildings. Wonderful – cheers Hilary
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Thanks Hilary. I was very lucky to attend classes in the Cathedral and to attend several services in Heinz Chapel. It’s like going back in time.
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Dan, what a magnificent chapel! Absolutely love the stained glass windows, and the chapel photo with the rain water reflection. Thanks for this marvelous tour! 📚🎶 Christine
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Thanks Christine. It was a dreary day, but even with a little bit of light, those windows just come alive. I’m glad you liked the reflection. I was hoping to get a better one, but the rain picked up again.
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[…] For Norm Frampton’s Thursday Doors challenge hosted by Dan this week […]
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[…] for stopping by. This link will bring you to a fine selection of interesting Thursday Doors from around the […]
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Wow, what a gift. Those stained glass windows are fabulous. Thanks for hosting this week, Dan.
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Thanks Jean. The windows are amazing. I remember seeing them when I was a young child. They seemed almost too big.
Hosting has been fun. I’m heading back out there in a few minutes.
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[…] The contrast of the blue building, the pink/red/rose-colored flowering tree, and the yellow next door was too delightful for me not to capture. Electrical lines are everywhere in San Miguel, so one just takes pictures of them too! See more at Heinz Chapel’s blog who is sitting in for Norm this week.https://nofacilities.com/2018/10/04/heinz-chapel-froggie-mcfrog/ […]
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beautiful church. I love the red doors at the front entrance.
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stunning!!
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Thanks Kirt. It’s an amazing building.
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One of the prettiest chapels in the US I think! I had the pleasure of attending a wedding in Heinz Chapel a few years back so for a little bit I did have time to sit and take in all it’s beauty. The red doors outside are just magnificent!!! Thanks for hosting this week Dan.
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I’m so glad you can relate to this post.
Sitting inside for a service, I always found it hard to pay attention. It would be a beautiful place to get married.
Hosting was my pleasure.
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[…] today is Friday I am sure you all have seen the other door contributions at Dan’s who is guest hosting for us this week but if not, click the link to visit an eclectic assortment of doors from around the world. Until […]
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Magnificent, Dan!
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Thanks Jennie. It really was a beautiful gift the University.
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🙂
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Impressive, and those windows! I like the red door in the alcove.
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Thanks. The doors alone could make a good post, but the windows are just so amazing to me.
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Beautiful architecture, windows, and doors. So nice of you to host while Norm is away. =)
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Thanks – I’m glad you enjoyed this. Hosting was my pleasure.
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Wow!
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Thanks, Val – I understand !
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What a glorious building! It’s amazing, how it manages to be both soaring and cozy. Every solitary detail dovetails with every other detail, and the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Great work, on the part of the designer, and on the part of the donor for funding the best job imaginable. Comparisons are odious, but how is YOUR construction project coming along? Even better, I’ll bet!
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I’m glad you liked this. No stained windows for my workshop, but we’re making progress.
The design of this chapel is incredible. Every little detail was planned. Window images, carvings in stone, in wood, inside, outside, they thought of everything.
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The stained glass is stunning Dan. Thanks so much for filling in :-)
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Thanks Norm. I was happy to help. I hope you had a great time.
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I attended Duquesne University, another Pittsburgh school, for three semesters in the early 70s and was able to visit Heinz Chapel. If you go inside on a sunny day, the entire chapel lights up blue–my favorite color, which just adds to the atmosphere of reverence in there. I was determined to get married there., but when I left Duquesne to attend school closer to my New Jersey home, I also broke up with my Pittsburgh boyfriend, who’d gotten tired of me. I met someone new and got married in the church in our hometown.
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I was in graduate school at Pitt 76-77. I’ve seen it on sunny days but it was dreary the day we were there.
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