Philadelphia: Christ Church and Christ Church Burial Ground

On our first day in Philadelphia, we landed, parked, ate, and headed straight for Christ Church. Christ Church, founded in 1695, is called “The Nation's Church” due to the famous Revolutionary-era leaders who worshiped here, including George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. It is the first parish of the Anglican Church in Pennsylvania and is also the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church.

Here we are sitting in the pew that Washington and Adams shared.

We got a brief tour by a gentleman who was very proud of the living history: the pulpit, the baptismal font that had been in use for at least a century, the pews where famous people sat and not-so-famous people still sit every Sunday. He informed us that walking on a grave inside a church is a way to honor the memory of the deceased.

Golden mid-afternoon sunshine poured through the original lead glass windows, dappled by the leaves of the old sycamore in the courtyard.

We then walked a couple blocks to the 291-year-old Christ Church Burial Ground. This cemetery is the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin and four other signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Me at Franklin's grave:

Other famous and interesting people who were buried here can be found here.

The high brick walls blocked out the hubbub of downtown Philadelphia and encouraged a reverent silence as we walked among the graves, crunching fallen leaves.