Photos

Chapel of the Holy Cross - Sedona, Arizona USA

This is a world famous chapel that was built into a cleft in high desert rock. It was completed in April, 1956 and is one of many world famous photo opportunities found in Sedona, Arizona.

Sedona is rightfully famous for its astounding, colorful "red rock" scenic vistas. Some examples can be seen in these PBase galleries:
General Sedona Views

Some Sedona Panoramas can be found here

Here are galleries of Native American Rock Art. Several are in the Sedona area

History
The inspiration for this chapel came to Marguerite Bruswig Staude in 1932 in New York City while observing the newly constructed Empire State Building. She was a sculptor, not an architect and never designed a building before or after but wanted to build a structure that would glorify The Creator in thanksgiving for all she and her family had received. She traveled throughout Europe without success looking for an ideal location. She returned to the United States and while she and her husband Tony traveled through Sedona, she was struck by the beauty of the area and decided that her chapel should be built here. She said, “This would be a monument to faith, but a spiritual fortress so charged with God, that it spurs man's spirit godward".

It is built on a twin rock outcrop about 250 feet high, jutting out of a thousand foot red rock wall, "solid as the Rock of Peter". It is a remarkably simple, stark construction made from cement slabs slapped together. Its trademark is it's large south facing cross that is embedded into the landscape.

Note:
This is a more traditional color version of this famous landmark of the southwest USA. There is a somwhat different B&W view of this place on Treklens located here:
View of the "Chapel of the Holy Cross" on Treklens