Stanford Memorial Church

The Stanford Memorial Church (nicknamed MemChu ) is located on the campus of Stanford University in California. Built in the style of the American Renaissance church was commissioned by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband Leland Stanford. For the design drawing of the architect Charles A. Coolidge, a protégé of Henry Hobson Richardson, responsible.

The first designs were submitted in 1898, and in 1903 the church was consecrated. The building has Romanesque and Byzantine features, inspired by churches in the region around Venice, particularly in Ravenna. The stained glass windows and mosaics have been adapted from religious paintings, which had admired the Stanfords in Europe. In the church there are four organs, which opens up many possibilities for the musicians musical design. The Stanford Memorial Church survived two major earthquakes, in 1906 and 1989, as a result, she was subjected to each of extensive renovations.

Stanford Memorial Church was the first church on the U.S. West Coast, which had not been built by a particular community of faith.