Exploring a Large Abandoned Cathedral
In the summer of 2017 RiddimRyder Photography and I drove over 6 hours to explore a city we had yet to visit, we had two full days planned and a lot of ground to cover. The first and main reason for our summer road trip was to visit this huge abandoned cathedral that we had been seeing in some friends posts and profiles.
We would arrive in the city at around midnight and had planned to sleep inside the cathedral and get a good early start. We spent far too long trying to find our way into this place. Actually getting inside was a breeze, it was finding our way up to the main level from the basement that proved to be a challenge.
After nearly an hour or more of trying doors, false stairways, locked doors, etc we finally found ourselves inside this giant dark room…..at 2:00 in the morning, an eerie place to be that close to the witching hour, in a huge silent pitch black cathedral.
We quietly walked the inner perimeter, inspected all of the balconies in search of a secure enough place to hang our hammocks and sleep in here for the night.
We thought we found a spot, using a radiator as one anchor and a metal wall railing as the other…as soon as we tried to sit in the hammocks the railing almost snapped off.

Pack up the hammocks, head down to my car…we’re sleeping in my car.
It’s now 3:00am, Riddims offensively large cooler is in the back seat, so our seats won’t recline. It’s hot as shit, so we have to crack the windows, people are being loud and there are streetlights shining in our faces.
On top of all this, I have a serious case of restless leg and now my right leg won’t stop involuntarily twitching.
One of us wakes up, then the other naturally wakes up, because even blinking would make my car shake…it’s just after 6am, we figure we probably slept for 2 hours if that.
Head to McDonalds for a terrible breakfast and much needed coffee and we head back into the church, we set up and I take my first photo at 7:13am, we won’t settle in for the day until after 11:00pm

You can’t see it here, but there is substantial damage to the inside of the structure and there are large cracks n the floor.
Here I am standing at the highest point of the cathedral between the organ pipes.





Having some good friends in the area of this cathedral we had solid information on access and what to look out for and be aware of. Access to this place would be worth the trip on its own and anything else would be a bonus.

Just a couple of weeks after our visit we learned from many other explorers that our entry point had been sealed back up.

Definitely the most amazing church I’ve had the pleasure to explore.

This pictures gives a better idea of the decay and damage done to sections of the church.
Love it!!! Awesome photography. Thank you.