The basic shapes of architecture.

This is a Romanian Orthodox Church on Bodine and Fairmount Streets, just a few blocks from my home. It is the fifth oldest church in Philadelphia and was built by the noted architect William Strickland for an Episcopal congregation in 1815. The Episcopal Church sold it to the Romanian Church for one-dollar in 1972.

William Strickland is also notable as the architect of the Second Bank of the United States and for restoring the tower of Independence Hall (both in Philadelphia), among many other sites.

Northern Liberties has long been a neighborhood of immigrants, and the many churches of various denominations attest to that.