Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site
In all my tours to National Park sites over the years, I doubt if I went to any greater lengths to get to my final destination than I did when I visited the Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site in Philadelphia.
My journey to the church, also known as “Old Swedes,” was accomplished on foot, through some “sketchy” areas of the City of Brotherly Love, navigated across construction zones and darting across multi-lane, high-speed rush hour traffic.
Once I accomplished these feats and before I repeated each of the above activities, I got to walk through some of the most pastoral surroundings and moving cemetery than I have ever gotten to see.
The historic cemetery was a mix of graves of patriots and ordinary citizens from the Revolutionary War period.
Not only is Gloria Dei Church an historic site but it is also an active congregation. Built in 1700 by Swedish Lutherans, the church is still the site of religious services on Sundays. In fact, on the early evening that I visited, members were setting up for what appeared to be a benefit dinner.
Alas I didn’t get to go inside Gloria Dei Church – it took too long to dodge traffic to get there. But the outside of the church and its historic cemetery were what I wanted to see anyway.
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