The last time the Project was in South Philadelphia, I suffered a dominating 1-2 punch of mediocrity that sent me reeling and nearly put me out of commission. I made some claims about South Philadelphia killing me and vowed to stay away from the place at all costs.
But that was three months ago. The Project has had three months away from South Philadelphia. Three months to try to work through my anger issues. Three months to forget the awful catastrophe that nearly ended my career.
Am I cured? No. But I think I’m ready to tackle this area again. Hence, this week’s trip to St. Paul.
St. Paul was first mentioned way back in December during our visit to the surprisingly robust St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi. That historic parish, the first national Italian parish in the country, closed in 2000, but has had the good luck to find use as an alternate worship site for St. Paul, who opens it for mass once a week.
This time, though, we get to tackle the mother parish. And you know what? St. Paul is pretty darn good. The church is a little on the smallish side, and the paint job is a little gaudy in places, but it’s got a great red-brick exterior, mahogany-framed balcony and organ, and a unique patterned roof. Even the design-oriented stained glass windows, which the Project usually despises, come off surprisingly well here.
Perhaps the most interesting thing is that St. Paul is something of an architectural oddity. It’s mostly Gothic in design and form, but it’s a rare Gothic church that doesn’t have a cruciform or faux-cruciform shape. We’re used to that sort of thing with Italian-Renaissance or Baroque designs, most of which are non-cruciform, but it's much more unusual with Gothic designs.
In the end, the Project kind of digs it. Mary Magdalen is a more stunning church, but this one holds up its end of the bargain.
Size Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Ornamentation Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Overall Design Rating: 8 out of 10 crosses
