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Washington, D.C.
SeeBrookland-Petworth-Takoma

Mount St Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land

Mount St Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land
Photo: Abraham Sobkowski OFM, CC BY-SA 2.5 (licence)

The Franciscan Monastery is home to a magnificent Italianate church and flower gardens, ringed by a Rosary Portico of 15 chapels with the Angelic Greeting written in 200 languages. The lower gardens are more kitschy— the monastery's founders, in the late nineteenth century, set out to create a Holy Land in America, and commissioned the construction of replicas of overseas holy sites, including the Roman Catacombs, The Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, the Grotto of the Nativity, and other assorted reproductions. A fine place to stroll, read, and contemplate.

Address
1400 Quincy St NE
Getting there
Metro: Brookland
Hours
Grounds: 10AM-5PM daily (Catacombs visits require tour), tours: Mon-Sat 10AM, 11AM, 1PM-3PM, Sun 1-3PM (tours start on the hour)
Price
Free, donations encouraged

Listing from Wikivoyage: Washington, D.C./Brookland-Petworth-Takoma, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.