Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Church of St.
Mary the Virgin
2325 Union St.
Map
4 D3.
Tel
921-
3665.
@
22, 41, 45.
Open
9am-5pm
Mon-Fri.
5
8, 9, 11am and 5:30pm
Sun.
^
during services.
∑
smvsf.org
Evoking the more rural early
19th-century years of Cow
Hollow
(see p73)
, this rustic,
wooden-shingled Episcopal
church stands at the west end
of what is now the busy Union
Street shopping area.
One of the natural springs
that provided water for the
Cow Hollow dairy herds still
bubbles up in the grounds,
now largely hidden from the
view of passersby on the street
by the church's original lych-
gate and hedge.
The small, plain building is an
early example of the Arts and
Crafts style
(see p48)
later used
in more prominent Bay Area
churches. Below the steeply
sloping roof, the walls are faced
with “shingles,” strips of redwood
nailed in over-lapping rows
onto the building's
wooden frame. Part
of the church was
remodeled in the
1950s, when the
entrance was moved
from Steiner Street to
the opposite end of
the building, but
the fabric has been
well preserved.
Ornate decoration on the Vedanta Temple
Other architectural features
include highly decorated
Moorish arches, medieval
parapets and elements of
Queen Anne
(see p77)
and
Colonial styles. It was built in
1905 by the architect Joseph
A. Leonard, working closely
with the Northern California
Vedanta Society minister,
Swami Trigunatitananda.
Vedanta is the highest of the
six schools of Hinduism, and the
building symbolizes the Vedanta
concept that every religion is
just a different way of reaching
one god. The Temple is now a
monastery, but it is worth a visit
just to marvel at this bizarre
building from the outside.
0
Vedanta Temple
2963 Webster St.
Map
4 D2.
Tel
922-
2323.
@
22, 41, 45.
Closed
to the
public except for services.
5
7:30pm
Fri only.
^
∑
sfvedanta.org
One of the bay area's most
unusual structures, the
Vedanta Temple is an eclectic
combination of a host of
divergent decorative traditions.
The roof is crowned by a rusty
red onion-shaped dome similar
to those seen on Russian
Orthodox churches. It also has a
tower resembling a crenellated
European castle, and an
octagonal Hindu temple cupola.
t
Fort Mason
Map
4 E1.
Te l
345-7500.
@
22, 28, 30,
43.
7
partial.
∑
fortmason.org
See Five Guided Walks pp174-5
.
Herbst Pavilion
Museo Italo
Americano
The Mexican
Museum
Festival Pavilion
Magic Theatre
Greens Restaurant
Fort Mason reflects the
military history of San
Francisco. The original
buildings were
private houses,
erected in the late
1850s, which were
confiscated by the US
Government when the
site was taken over by
the US army during the
Civil War (1861-65).
The Fort remained an army
command post until the 1890s,
and also housed refugees left
homeless by 1906 earthquake
(see pp30-31)
. In World War II,
Fort Mason Army Base was
the point of embarkation for
around 1.6 million soldiers.
Fort Mason was converted
to peaceful use in 1972. The
original barracks, and the
old hospital, which serves
as a Visitor Center and
headquarters of the Golden
SFMOMA Artists
Gallery
0
BATS Improv at
the Bayfront
Theater
-
City College of San
Francisco Art Campus
San Francisco
Children's Art Center
Entrance
Young Performers
Theatre
Maritime Library
Great Meadow
