at the Columbarium, snapping away...

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photo by Donald Kinney

While I was snapping away at all the photo-opportunities in the Columbarium I felt like a kid in a candy shop and I kept having to remind myself to maintain a certain degree of reverence. Some ladies were busily setting up for a memorial service and as guests started to arrive I knew it was time to make my exit, so I slipped out as quietly as possible.



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photo by Donald Kinney

As you can see, the Columbarium has some wonderful stained glass.



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photo by Donald Kinney

And here's more. Now, if I was a good reporter I would have researched these windows and be able to tell you all about them, but I'm not, so I'm just going to have to assume that there is some Biblical significance in the three ways these Angels have their hands positioned.



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photo by Donald Kinney

I had to stop and marvel at this simple display. See what I mean about marvelous objects?


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San Francisco's Columbarium

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photo by Donald Kinney

San Francisco has a lot of great things going for it, but not a lot of people would expect that a Repository of Ashes would be the Crown Jewel. Of course that's just MY opinion, but this round four-storied neo-classical structure built in 1898 has approximately 6,700 niches on four levels.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Seems like this is one of San Francisco's best kept secrets, and you're probably going to need a map to find the place. But I found out about the Columbarium several weeks ago from my friend Julie Michelle, who in my opinion is currently the brightest star in a galaxy of talented San Francisco photographers. Julie did a photo-shoot here (((click on the slideshow))) at the Columbarium as part of her "I Live Here, S.F." project.



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photo by Donald Kinney

The thing about the Columbarium, besides the architecture and fabulous stained glass windows, is that many of the niches contain objects that reflect the person's interests and personality. Some of the crypts are filled with the most wonderful objects. This poor departed soul (o.k., maybe not so poor) was obviously a dentist and had a passion for photography and his boat.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Prior to 1980 when the Neptune Society took over the operation of the Columbarium, the place was closed and had fallen into disrepair -- I am told that the ground floor was a swampy mess and that Raccoons and other critters had made the place their own. Since then the place has been beautifully and painstakingly restored to it's former glory. You can notice some on-going maintenance here -- the baseboard is waiting for paint.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Some of the most beautiful stained glass I've ever seen is at the Columbarium. Come back tomorrow and I'll show you some more, but CLICK for Wikipedia's information about the Columbarium.


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