Bell Tower @ St. Mary's Malankara Orthodox Syrian Cathedral - Philadelphia, PA
N 40° 00.942 W 075° 05.242
18T E 492544 N 4429503
Beautiful, stone tower is the main feature of this hundred year old church.
Waymark Code: WMARC9
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 02/17/2011
Views: 5
A great big stained window with Gothic influences is out front and a huge bell tower, medieval looking looms over the front entrance and over this neighborhood. The structure looks like a castle fortification. All that is missing are pennants flying from the four posts located at each corner of the parapet. There is plenty of room to walk in this three story tower with small, Gothic like slits half way up. The windows at the tops are blanked out with a white covering with a red cross in the center.
A large cornerstone, embedded in the stone wall dates this church to 1891. The cornerstone is on the left side, not in the front, kind of an unusual place. it looks like a Pez candy, raised block lettering, the rest inset. The stone is four feet off of the ground, just above a stone coping.
St. Mary's Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was established on January 1st, 1980, as per the constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, by the Kalpana of His Grace Dr. Thomas Mar Makarios, then the American Diocese Bishop. The first location was at 12th and Oak Lane in Philadelphia, PA. This location was a rented hall of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church.