Peace Crosses (& Some Other Notable Crosses) Around the World

Right click image to enlarge.

October 23, 1898 - Peace Cross, Massachusetts & Wisconsin Avenues, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC (USA). "Dedicated by President McKinley to mark the coming end of the Spanish-American War. It is located near the former location of the residence where the first meetings were held to plan Washington National Cathedral" (constructed 1907-1990). Also known as "Stone Cross."

March 13, 1904 - Cristo Redentor de los Andes / Christ of the Andes, Uspallata Pass, Andes Mountains (Argentina/Chile). Celebrates the Peace of King Edward VII [1841-1910] of England. The statue was cast from melted military armaments, and hauled thirteen thousand feet to the top of the mountain by the armies of both nations. The monument was on the cover of Time Magazine, December 17, 1928.

May 1919 - Grave of Edith Cavell, Life’s Green, South Wall, Norwich Cathedral, Norwich, Norfolk (England). Edith Cavell [1865-1915] was "quite the most famous woman to be killed in World War I." As a British nurse, she "treated friend and foe alike and helped allied soldiers to escape, for which she was executed by the Germans" in Brussels (Belgium) on October 12, 1915. Buried after a memorial service at Westminster Abbey on May 15, 1919. Lower image shows graveside ceremony on October 9, 2004. Upper image copyright © Martin Edwards 2003. Click here for more Cavell monuments.

C R O S S

May 18, 1920, Peace Cross Memorial, Cathedral of the Incarnation (Episcopal), Baltimore, Maryland (USA). Celtic-style cross. Just north of Hopkins Homewood Campus. Also known as Victory Cross. Dedicated to the memory of lives lost in WW-I. Across the street is the Confederate Women’s monument.

Date? - Peace Memorial, Fair Oak Square, Fair Oak Village, Eastleigh Borough, Hampshire (England). Also called "Hampshire War Memorial." Related to World War I?

July 13, 1925 - Peace Cross, US Highway 1, Bladensburg, Maryland (USA). Forty foot cross of cement and marble constructed by the Snyder-Farmer Post of the American Legion to recall the 49 men of Prince George’s County who died in World War I. Towers above the convergence of Baltimore Avenue, Bladensburg Road, and Annapolis Road (a primary entrance to Washington, DC, before the construction of interstate highways).

1929 - Charles Lindbergh Good Will Window, Trinity Methodist Church, Springfield, Massachusetts (USA). "Commemorates Charles Lindbergh's famous flight across the world [sic]. The window depicts Lindbergh standing, dressed in aviation clothing. The words 'Good Will' appear in a banner behind his head. Circular insets in the two upper corners of the window show, respectively, a map of the world marked with latitude and longitude lines and a flying airplane, which casts a shadow on the ground in the form of a cross."

1930 - IJzertoren Museum of War, Peace & Flemish Emancipation, IJzerdijk 49, Diksmuide / Dixmude, Flanders (Belgium). IJzertoren / Yser Tower is is named after the Yser River which formed the frontline during most of World War I. The 84-meter tower was iIllegally demolished the night of March 15-16, 1946. The perpetrators were never caught but were thought to involve Belgian military and former resistance fighters in an atmosphere of post WW-II repression. Site of 4th International Conference of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP). Images show the rebuilt tower. Upper left image is 1929 poster. Upper right image is brochure for the 4th INMP conference in 2003.

October 12, 1931 - O Cristo Redentor / Christ the Redeemer, Corcovado Mountain, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Formerly Christo redemptor. Statue of Jesus Christ resembling a cross. "Considered the largest Art Deco statue in the world -- 39.6 metres (130 ft) tall, including its 9.5 meter (31 feet) pedestal, and 30 metres (98 ft) wide. Weighs 635 tons (700 short tons). At peak of 700 metre (2,300 ft) mountain overlooking the city."

1934 - Mojave Memorial Cross, Sunrise Rock, Mojave National Preserve, California (USA). "Erected to honor Americans who died in World War I. Maintained by volunteers and was reconstructed after being destroyed. A park visitor sued in 2001. Boarded up [as shown in right image] after a federal judge ruled that it violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause because it conveyed “a message of endorsement of religion.” Congress passed a law that transferred the land under it to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who would maintain it. The same park visitor challenged the land transfer. A trial court ruled that it was invalid because it was simply an attempt by the government to keep the cross. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, agreed. But, on April 28, 2010, the US Supreme Court voted 5-4 (and issued six separate opinons) overturning the lower court and permitting the cross to remain.

1939 - Granite Cross, Skogskyrkogården Cemetry, Stockholm (Sweden). "The only thing to break up the horizon when visitors come through the main entrance and look out over the rolling, open landscape. Since Skogskyrkogården is a multi-ethnic cemetery serving faiths other than Protestant Christianity, the cross is not intended to represent a symbol of faith, but rather a symbol of the circle of life and death."

1944 - All Nations Cross, Fields of the Wood Bible Park, Murphy, North Carolina (USA). According to the "Marker at Entrance," the cross "is displayed along with flags of the other nations which have accepted the truth. THIS CROSS IS A GIFT OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA--1944 A.D."

1948 - Peace Monument, Potter's Field, Hart Island, East River, Bronx, New York City, New York (USA). "The inmates on the island who spent long hours digging graves petitioned for permission to build a monument for those interred on the island. With permission granted, both prisoners and staff cooperated to create the thirty-foot memorial... The word "peace" is inscribed on one side and a simple cross on the other."

1950 - United Nations Memorial Cross, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu Island (Japan). "Standing faced Korea, the soldier of the Allied Forces killed in the Korean War is commemorated." Inscription: "In honor of the fallen heroes of the United Nations erected in 1950 by members of the Kokura General Depot Camp Kokura Kyushu Japan." (Kitakyushu was created in 1963 and includes the old city of Kokura.)

1956 - Peace Cross, Holy Land U.S.A., Pine Hill, Waterbury, Connecticut (USA). Photos show the original steel cross. It was replaced 12 years later by a larger, illuminated cross, and the illuminated cross was replaced in 2008."

1957? - Birkenkopf / Rubble Hill, south west of Stuttgart (Germany). Plaque says, "raised 40.2 meters from 1953 to 1957 / by piling up 1.5 million cubic meters of rubble from Stuttgart which had been 45% destroyed by 53 air attacks during WW-II." There is a path going up to the cross at the top. Now a popular area for short hikes. Refered to locally as "Monte Scherbelino," a jocular Italian-sounding name based on the German word Scherbe, meaning "shard" - "Mountain of shards." Info & Image from Mark Hatlie.

April 1, 1958 - Granite Cross, Basilica of the Holy Cross, Valle de los Caídos / Valley of the Fallen, San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain). "The most prominent feature of the monument is the towering 150-meter-high (500-feet) cross erected over a granite outcrop 150 meters over the basilica esplanade and visible from over 20 miles away."

1963 - Bald Knob Cross of Peace, Bald Knob, Shawnee National Forest, Alto Pass, Illinois (USA). Largest cross in North America. "111 feet (34 m) tall and is visible, when lit at night, over an area of 7,500 square miles (19,000 km2). Base made of Illinois marble, and upper portion covered by reinforced steel porcelain panels. Use of interior stairway discontinued in 1982." Site of Easter sunrise services since 1937. "In 1963 when our relations with Russia took a turn for the better, [the foundation] thought the cross could have a good effect if known as The Cross Of Peace around which our prayers could center."

October 1966 - The Great Cross, Prince of Peace Church, St. Augustine, Florida (USA). "A free-standing steel cross measuring just over 260 feet tall. Weighs 70 tons and consists of 200 stainless steel panels in various sizes. Erected at the direction of Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley & dedicated by the Archbishop of Madrid. Celebrates the 400th anniversary of the Mission of Nombre de Dios and the City of St. Augustine. However, there is a granite cross in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain (the Basilica of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen) which is taller."

1971 - Capilla de la Paz / Chapel of Peace, Calle de la Paz, Fraccionamiento Las Brisas, Acapulco, Guerrero (Mexico). Built by Carlos and Millie Hauss Trouyet as a tribute to their sons Carlos and Jorge who died in air accident while returning to Acalpulco from Mexico City in 1967. The cross towers 128 feet (40 meters) above the non-denominational chapel and 1,200 feet above Acalpulco Bay.

1980 - Monument, Gdansk (Poland). "Honors shipyard workers killed in Gdansk, the Baltic sea port, by government troops during unrest in 1970 which was triggered by food prices. The only monument built by a Communist government to victims of its own repression. Note that it consists of three tall crosses on which anchors are crucified."

September 28, 1984 - Trios of Roadside Crosses by Rev. Bernard Coffindaffer, Christian Crosses, Inc., Craigsville, West Virginia (USA). "The Reverend Bernard Coffindaffer [1935-1993] began erecting the crosses in 1984. By the time of his death, 1,842 trios of crosses had been installed in 29 US states and in the Philippines. Coffindaffer spent over 3 million dollars on this project. Notice that the center cross is yellow and the other two, blue. Often, they are installed on heavily wooded mountaintops and we always wondered how on earth the Rev. Coffindaffer reached the upper ridges with them. One day, we saw this set near a gas station on US 19 in West Virginia and stopped to get a first hand look and to snap this photo. As you can see, the crosses are beginning to look worn and in need of a coat of paint." States with more than 50 trios: WV 352, FL 225, MS 156, GA 144, VA 131, NC 106, KY 94, TN 87, IN 80, PA 62 & MD 60.

July 12, 1987 - Cristo de la Concordia, Cochabamba (Bolivia). "Stands at 40.44 metres (132.7 ft) tall with its 6.24 metres (20.5 ft) pedestal and 34.20 metres (112.2 ft) wide."

July 1995 - "Second Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere," Interstate Highway 40, Groom (east of Amarillo), Texas (USA). "It's 190 feet tall and can't be missed from I-40. It looks brand spanking new and appears to be made of metal sheeting. It's on the west side of town. The leaning watertower is on the east... Effingham's cross is 8 ft. larger."

1999 - Christmas Truce Cross, Ploegstreert Wood, Ypres (Belgium). The text reads, "1914 The Khaki Chum's Christmas Truce." In 1999, the Christmas Truce of 1914 was commemorated by a small group of re-enactors who, after spending a few nights in makeshift trenches in the area near Ploegstreert Wood, left behind a wooden cross. That cross has since been fortified with a cement base by some of the local people and now stands as the only monument to the Christmas Truce of 1914. This is a sad commentary on how governments build many monuments supposedly to honor military veterans, but somehow seem to do so in ways that glorify war."

2001 - Cruz del Tercer Milenio / Third Millennium Cross," El Vigía Hill, Coquimbo (Chile). Concrete cross 83 metres tall & 40 metres wide. Construction began in 1999 and it was completed in 2001. It sits 197 metres above sea level & is considered the tallest monument in South America

July 2001 - Cross, Interstate Highways 57 & 70, Effingham, Illinois (USA). "A 198-foot (60 m) steel cross erected by The Cross Foundation which claims that the cross is the tallest in the United States even though The Great Cross (260-foot / 79 m) in St. Augustine, Florida is believed to be the tallest freestanding cross in the world."

December 12, 2003 - Peace Bell, "Memorial Hall for Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre," Nanjing, Jiangsu Province (China). Dedicated one day before the 66th anniversary of the Nanking Massacre, dates of which are shown on the cross-shaped pillar.

October 2004-July 2005 - Chckpoint Charlie Monument, Berlin (Germany). Commemorated the 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Consisted of over 1,000 crosses adorned with the names of those murdered attempting to escape Communist East Germany for freedom during the Cold War. Torn down on July 5, 2005: "Berlin's Shame: We Will Never Forget! We really don't have much left to say about this outrage. The anger inside all of us right now is simply too much. Even we believed that the city government and the bank would have the good sense to seek a compromise...but they didn't."