Wade Memorial Chapel

While a seemingly ordinary Greek Revival chapel on the outside, stepping past the 4-ton bronze doors brings to light the room’s magnificent Tiffany glass masterpieces. 

As you enter, the sun shines through the “The Flight of Souls,” also known as the “Resurrection Window,” set in the north wall over the alter. The centerpiece of the chapel, this 9-foot-tall, 7-foot-wide window won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900.

Along the walls leading to the window are two expansive mosaics, “The Law and the Prophets” on the west and “The Fulfillment and the Enlightenment” on the east. Representing the Old and New Testaments, these murals stretch 32 feet to the north wall.

The painted glass was created by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his staff, and was painstakingly reassembled in the walls by Cleveland Institute of Art alumna Clara Driscoll and the Women’s Glass Cutting Department.

Built in 1901, the Wade Memorial Chapel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the centerpieces of the 285-acre cemetery. It was built by Jeptha Wade II dedicated to his grandfather, Jeptha H. Wade, one of the founders of Western Union Telegraph Company, who, along with other captains of local industry, purchased the lands that became the Lake View Cemetery. Jeptha Wade II was the first president of the cemetery association, and was buried there in 1890.

Today, Clevelanders can hold weddings and funerals in the Wade Memorial Chapel among the splendor of the stained glass.