Washington National Cathedral United States

Legendary

The second largest church in the US, it has witnessed 3 presidential funerals.

Photo by F Delventhal

High up on one of the towers of this cathedral, there's a stone carving of Darth Vader. Yes, the villain from Star Wars.

In the 1980s, the cathedral held a contest asking kids to design new decorations for its towers. One of the winning ideas was the Dark Lord himself.

He's not technically a gargoyle. Gargoyles carry rainwater off the roof, and Vader doesn't, so he's called a grotesque.

The Washington National Cathedral stands on a hill in northwest Washington, D.C. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

On September 29, 1907, a crowd of more than 20,000 people gathered to watch the first stone being laid. President Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech blessing the work ahead.

That work took a very long time. Builders followed the style of the great Gothic cathedrals of England, with pointed arches, tall towers, and stone supports called flying buttresses.

Everything is made of solid stone, mostly limestone from Indiana. There's no steel frame holding it up at all.

The cathedral was finished on September 29, 1990, exactly 83 years to the day after it was started. President George H. W. Bush was there for the celebration.

Inside are more than 200 stained glass windows. One of the most famous is the Space Window, which honors scientists and astronauts.

In the middle of its swirling red circle is a real piece of the moon. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin brought it back from the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, and it's sealed inside so it won't wear away.

More than 220 people are buried inside the cathedral. Among them is Woodrow Wilson, the only U.S. president buried in Washington, D.C.

Helen Keller is buried here too, along with her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Every president since Theodore Roosevelt has visited the cathedral.

In 2011, an earthquake shook the cathedral and broke off pieces of its towers. Repairs are still going on today.

Find the Space Window on the south side of the nave and look for the tiny moon rock in the center. Step outside and use binoculars to spot Darth Vader high on the northwest tower. Then walk through the Bishop's Garden and the Olmsted Woods, a patch of old forest right on the cathedral grounds.

Sources: Washington National Cathedral (Fun Facts), NPR, and Washingtonian.