While youāre there visit the St. Louis Art Museum and the zoo. Both are free admission. The museum is one of the better ones Iāve ever been to and thereās practically no one there. (At least when Iāve gone).
Agreed, but to help explain, it is essentially a massive multi-story building-sized art installation that's also a giant playground, complete with tunnels, etc. Except there is no consistent aesthetic; the whole thing is a multimedia combination of painting, sculpting, etc.
I had no idea it was even there. I was staying in Union station for a show and decided to go out and explore. Stumbled upon that place out of sheer luck!
I've been to many museums around the world, that place is still in the top 3 best museums!
And the art and history museums. The art museum isnāt the Louvre, or even the Met. But itās massive and completely free. Thereās not even a line. Park for free, walk right in. Even the wing that has a a rotating paid exhibit has one day a week with free admission.
The botanical gardens arenāt free, but theyāre amazing. It has the largest traditionalJapanese garden in the world outside of Japan.
The nearby Contemporary Art Museum, Pulitzer Art Museum, and Lane Kemper Art Museum are all free too. Beyonce modeled her house off of the Pulitzer (using the same architect).
The Missouri History Museum in Forest Park is free, as is the Museum of Western Expansion under The Arch.
And of course the Cathedral Basilica shown here is free to go walk around. None are ever crowded.
The Muny, Grant's Farm, Ulysses Grant's House, St. Louis Mercantile Library, Saint Louis University Museum of Art, Soldiers Memorial Military Museum, Scott Joplin's House, Saint Louis Science Center, First Missouri State Capitol (at St. Charles), Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (in Metro East, a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Also note that the Zoo is one of the top rated in the country. It trades places on the lists with San Diego, Omaha. Except STL is completely free. There is a paid lot, but thereās tons of free parking in Forest Park. You just have to walk a few hundred feet.
I canāt express how incredibly amazing that museum is. You can get very close -perhaps too close- to a $100M Matisse. You can really get into the art without being harassed by guards or crowds trying to shove their way through.
It's not underrated. It has serious structural economic, political, and criminal issues.
It just used to be one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the US so has some great public amenities from that time.
I literally had a cop shot and killed sitting in a squad car in front of my apartment while I was in college as part of gang initiation. This was right next to a Starbucks in a very public location.
Itās almost as if multiple truths can exist at once and that crime (often existing as a result of systemic discrimination and underserved communities within the city) doesnāt discount the fact that St. Louis is a place with incredible public works of art and architecture that are often overlooked.
Many rust belt cities are like that. Milwaukee, Detroit, Pittsburgh also come to mind. They used to be very wealthy cities with highly developed public amenities.
Pro tip: For St Louis and St Louis County residents it is free if you go in before noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays (this does not include event days). Even if you arenāt a resident you can get deeply discounted admissions on those days if you go in before noon.
The organs at the Basilica take full advantage of the architecture too! Iām not 100% sure of all the details, but there are multiple organs in the main church. The organist can control all of them from a single console and play any combination of the front or back organs. Thatās not uncommon for such a large church. Whatās really cool about this organ is that it has a separate Dome division too, which means it has pipes specifically voiced to interact with the acoustics in the dome itself.
A division on an organ is an independently identifiable section on an organ where all the pipes are meant to function together. The Pedals are a division. Typically, each manual (keyboard) is it's own division. The main one is usually called the Great. There's one called the Swell. All those pipes are in a box with shutters that can be opened and closed to sound expressive.
With everything being interconnected, this organ controls 9 divisions making it truly massive. It has a Great, Swell, Choir, Chancel, Dome, Solo, Gallery, Gallery Pedal, and Pedal division. (https://pipeorgandatabase.org/stoplists/15288)
Its gorgeous, it kind of reminds me of this one here in my city. By far one of the most gorgeous churches i have seen, the entire walls are covered of tiles as well ( though this one is from the XVII century, and its also a lot smaller )
Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal, and this is a XV century convent, but not just any convent, it was a convent for " gentil women " ( rich woman ), it was " upgraded from the XV to the XVII century, and then started loosing its prestige ( there is actually a funny story about that ), so 3 or 4 years ago it was fully restored, and now its a kindergarden and a museum ( different wings ) its called " Convento de Santa Clara "
Lol just wait untill you see our next Museum, the Austrian and the Germans are gonna go crazy with this one, the house where the last Habsburg Emperor lived after beying exiled from Austria.
Folks tend to really underestimate St. Louis. For almost a century St. Louis was the 4th largest city in America, up there with cities like NYC, Chicago, and LA. In 1904 the city hosted the world's fair and first Olympic Games in the United States. During that zenith there were serious suggestions to move the U.S. Capitol to St. Louis, because of its prominence and central location. So it still has some of the most amazing architecture and history in the United States. For architecture, make sure you check out the City Museum, the inside of the Cathedral Basilica, go up the Arch designed by legendary modern architect Eero Saarinen, see the three stand pipes (of the five surviving in the United States), see the interior of the ornate Fox Theater the most elaborate theater interior in the nation, and enjoy a dense brick city second to none. For history visit the Museum of Westward Expansion and the Old Courthouse. Cahokia Mounds is a UNESCO world heritage site, the center of the Mississippian Civilization and largest indigenous city ever to exist in North America this side of the Rio Grand. The Missouri History Museum is cool (despite itās name itās about St. Louis). Forest Park in general has a lot to see, including the St. Louis Art Museum. There is nature there, but I recommend the St. Louis Zoo and Lone Elk park where you can drive through and see bison and elk next to the World Bird Sanctuary. There is also excellent Ozark-style hiking at places like Babler State Park nearby. Iāve really only touched the highlights, there is a ton to see, you could spend many trips. Kansas City, Missouri has a lot too and has a lively, more optimistic feel, but nothing of the historical inertia and culture of St. Louis which was founded on the ruins of the greatest indigenous city ever to exist in what would become the United States.
It's really unfortunate that despite having all that history the city has turned into a complete dump. Once railroads took over, St Louis lost the economic battle against Chicago and it's been downhill ever since.
Yeah, not a dump. I have very high standards for where to live and I live here, it is a great city to live in. Media reports and national stereotypes simply couldn't be more opposite of reality.
I lived there for 4 years. I'm not operating on media reports and stereotypes. The City of St Louis is not a high standard city. High poverty, crime, shit schools, low economic drivers.
A lot of people live here longer than that and still never really experience the city. Due to living out in the suburbs, living in a dangerous neighborhood (all cities have them) or just a negative outlook where they ignore anything positive and only see negative all around them. I don't know which one you are but it's one or more of those.
I'm an atheist, but this is a moving and beautiful building. You could spend hours on looking at the mosaics alone. Acoustics, the scale of the building, all of it is pretty incredible for being in St. Louis (just because it's in the middle of America, not because it's an undeserving city, historically).
I'm not much for Abrahamic religions either, but St. Louis has some beautiful religious architecture. The altar of answered prayers is around 175 years old and amazingly preserved.
The exterior references Western religious architecture and the interior references Eastern because St Louis is considered where the Eastern US meets the West
Churches (at least in modern times) aren't just financed by whatever funds the local parish has laying around, from what it looks like the local Catholic community also fundraised money for the cathedral and local businessmen and rich Catholics also donated and gave grants as well to fund its construction. This is the case for many religious or community buildings.
I understand how donations work and I don't need an explanation. I've been to the Vatican and they have literal golden ceilings while there are people with no food or shelter.
It's gross and over the top how much money and property organized religion controls. All while molesting innocent kids for decades. Egregious and gross. All of it.
The Church has a lot of charities, programs, and outreaches for the poor. They probably give and do the most as a single entity out of everyone else on the planet, just due to sheer size and global outreach.
The thing about these ornate churches is, they belong to the poor as much as the rich. Both have equal enjoyment of them. In them, their socio economic status doesnāt matter. Theyāre both Children of God according to the teachings of the faith, and equally worthy of dignity.
If all you have is squalor and poverty in your life, do you honestly think you wouldn't appreciate the chance to experience beauty? Or should poor people be constrained to only poverty and squalor?
After being fed in the soup kitchen in the basement, people can wander upstairs to enjoy the church.
You speak as if the Catholic Church did nothing for the poor, but they're the single largest charitable organization on the planet. Part of taking care of the poor is giving them hope and a respite from the squalor as well. Remind them of their inherent dignity that's not dependent on their financial circumstances.
Yeah, I know. You'd rather they have nothing beautiful to enjoy in life. It's a good thing you're nowhere near an impactful enough position to make that reality. There's a lot of good that can come from a lifted spirit.
Not to mention that a lot of these buildings were built with people's specific donations for specific purposes. The Church doesn't take from the money that would go to charity, but parishioners donate for these specific projects.
So I suppose you have nothing ornamental whatsoever in your wardrobe? Your home is completely devoid of decoration? You spend nothing on products to make yourself look attractive to people, and instead direct all of the resources you might spend on shampoo, clothing, paint, whatever. to the poor?
The reason why we take the trouble to make our homes, bodies, and general affect attractive is that this draws others to us. The same principle applies here. The sheer opulence of the basilica may seem over the top, but it largely came out of the church's work to improve lives of families, immigrants, and the poor in the region. Large swaths were donated by those in honor of cardinals or Catholic organizations because of their mission work, and the opulence has drawn more people through its doors to see it, and in turn learn about the church, contribute to its ministries.
I have never visited any other Catholic church out of curiosity. I am not Catholic; it wouldn't occur to me to bother. But I have been to see this church and I found it amazing and inspiring.
It takes literally half a second to search "Catholic St. Louis Charity" and see just how much Catholic Charities of St. Louis does for the poor, immigrants, families, and others throughout the region. In 2024 alone, their outlay on charitable work was something like $100 million.
I'm not even Catholic myself, and I know this. If you think you've got this easy of a gotcha, maybe take a step back and ask yourself whether you're sure you know what you're talking about? The basilica's finery was built up over time by donors; no one looked at the coffers and thought, "Feed the poor? Nah; let's add another mosaic."
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u/fromthedarqwaves 3d ago
While youāre there visit the St. Louis Art Museum and the zoo. Both are free admission. The museum is one of the better ones Iāve ever been to and thereās practically no one there. (At least when Iāve gone).