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Monumental Church is a former Episcopal church that stands at 1224 E. Broad Street between N. 12th and College Streets in Richmond, Virginia. Designed by architect Robert Mills, it is one of America's earliest and most distinctive Greek Revival churches and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a National Historic Landmark and is located in the Court End historic district. Monumental Church was built between 1812 and 1814 to commemorate the 72 people who died on the site in the December 26, 1811 Richmond Theatre fire. The building consists of two parts: a crypt and a church. The crypt is located beneath the sanctuary and contains the remains of those claimed by the fire. The church is an octagonal construction of brick and Aquia sandstone with a stucco coat. ==History== The site of Monumental Church was known initially as the first Academy of Fine Arts and Sciences in America, or "The Theatre Square." Chevalier Quesnay de Beaurepaire, a French officer in the Revolutionary army, had developed the idea for the academy but the plan was abandoned due to the war. In 1786 on this site Richmond's first theatre was built, which had the appearance of a "barn-like building." The Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788 was held in this building beginning on June 3 for three weeks "after first convening in the temporary capitol at Cary and fourteenth streets."〔Richmond Times Dispatch, "Monumental Church to Observe 150th Anniversary of First Service." May 3, 1964.〕 Among the many individuals in attendance were James Madison, John Marshall, James Monroe, Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, George Nicholas, Edmund Randolph, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry. This building was destroyed by fire in 1802 and the Richmond Theatre would replace it.〔Weddell, Alexander Willbourne. Southern Churchman, January 9, 1932.〕 Following the 1811 theatre fire, the church was commissioned by Chief Justice John Marshall and designed by architect Robert Mills, the first American-born architect, the only pupil of Thomas Jefferson and the architect of the Washington Monument and White House of the Confederacy. Mills "had a reputation for being particularly concerned with fireproofing,"〔Robert Russell, College of Charleston Department of Historic Preservation〕 probably owing to his work on Monumental, and later in his career designed Charleston's Fireproof Building as a testament to that fact. Monumental Church established the first Sunday School program in Richmond on Nov. 20, 1817.〔Evans, Mrs. Wm. E., "The History of the Monumental Church," 1817.〕 Famous parishioners included Chief Justice John Marshall whose family occupied pew No. 23, Edgar Allan Poe, whose foster parents the Allans were members and occupied pew No. 80, the Marquis de Lafayette when he visited Richmond in 1824, William Mayo of Powhatan and the Chamberlayne family.〔Richmond News Leader, "Monumental Church." Dec 3, 1946.〕 Three Richmond congregations were formed from Monumental, including: St. James's in 1831, St. Paul's in 1845 and All Saints in 1888. Deconsecrated in 1965, it was given by the Medical College of Virginia to the Historic Richmond Foundation, an affiliate of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Monumental Church」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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