Old South Church - Boston

The Old South Church in Boston, located at 645 Boylston Street on Copley Square, is home to one of the oldest religious congregations in the United States.  

The congregation started in 1669 with dissenters  from Boston's First Church (a Congregational Church founded in 1630 by John Winthrop) and became known as the Third Church in Boston. 

It met in a Cedar Meeting House, then moved to the Old South Meeting House in 1729, located at the corner of Washington and Milk Streets. Members of the congregation have included Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin. The congregation moved to the current church on Boylston Street in 1874 and thus is also called the New Old South Church. 

It is now a United Church of Christ, which is a blend of the Congregational Church and some other Christian traditions. 

The beautiful campanile or tower is one of its distinguishing characteristics, 

as is its lantern or copper clad cupola which was inspired by the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice. 

I don't have any good interior photos, but Judy fell in love with it, so much so, that we went back a second time. The first time we listened to the organist practicing on the organ and thrilled at the beautiful music resonating through the empty building (except for us and the organist). 

The second time we listened to a group practicing for the Sunday service, which included hand bells playing "When The Saints Come Marching In." The interior is richly decorated in shades of red and pink complemented by beautiful dark (cherry?) wood pews with red seat covers. 

It also has some beautiful stained glass. That below, is above the organ.

Below is also above the organ.

The next one is above an entrance.

I particularly like some of the exterior which are striped with Roxbury puddingstone and deep rose sandstone. 

The information for this post came from Wikipedia.