St. Michael's Cathedral, Springfield in Springfield, MA

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Michael's Cathedral is one of the major landmarks of the classic New England town of Springfield, Massachusetts. Ever since its foundation in the 17th century by some of the earliest English colonists to settle in the so-called New World, Springfield has been one of the major intellectual and artistic hubs of the state of Massachuesetts.

The massive St. Michael's Cathedral is one of the biggest Catholic places of worship in the area (traditionally one dominated by Protestant Christianity). Unsurprsingly, St. Michael's is the seat of the entire Diocese of Springfield--one of the most important Roman Catholic dioceses in western Massachusetts. It stands in downtown Springfield, among the majestic trees of State street. State street gives the crisp, neo-Gothic red-and-white exterior of the Cathedral--for lack of a better word--a "stately" air.

The exterior of the cathedral looks like something that would belong in a painting called "American Gothic." The building boasts a neat, white pointed steeple, embellished by decorative, understated gothic windows on all eight of its facets. The walls are of the exterior of St. Michael's are red brick, trimmed with white molding. Inside the cathedral are understated yet beautiful works of stained glass, including one window (inside the Holy Spirit Chapel) by the contemporary American artist Steve Jablonski. Built in 1860, St. Michael's Catherdal, to this day a sensible combination of traditional and modern, both inside and outside.

Fairly recently, in 1996, St. Michael's Cathedral was given a beautiful and spacious new wing, to make the building's total capacity even greater. The new wing is called the Bishop Marshall Center, and it has a kitchen plus space for an additional 180 in its main hall and chapel.