Brookland-Petworth-Takoma

This massive, stunning basilica is worth a pilgrimage not just for American Catholics; people of any faith will be in awe at its sheer size, the largest house of worship in North America, and its vast collection of contemporary sacred art. Built entirely by traditional methods, it seamlessly blends architectural styles from different periods over the last 2,000 years.

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.

Elevated to a national shrine in 2014, this Knights of Columbus-operated center offers exhibits on the life, legacy, and teaching of Pope St. John Paul II and on the Catholic heritage of North America. There is a weekday veneration service for a first-class relic, a piece of the blood-stained cassock worn by the pontiff when he was shot on May 13, 1981.

President Lincoln and his family summered here from 1862–1864 to escape the awful climate (physical and political) by the White House. Here he penned the second draft of his Emancipation Proclamation. Recognizing that Lincoln's political acumen was rivaled by his taste in abodes, later presidents James Buchanan, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Chester A. Arthur all took up the cottage as a summer residence as well. In addition to simply looking lovely, the cottage today contains several exhibits, as well as a reproduction of the desk on which Lincoln wrote his Proclamation.

This is no Congressional Cemetery, no Arlington Cemetery. That is to say, no one has heard of the place or the people buried therein. But this is a beautifully-set nineteenth century cemetery, with a High Gothic statuary impressive in quantity and quality. The most famous statue/tomb here is known to Washingtonians as Grief, incorrectly, as the famous sculptor Saint-Gaudens gave it a less catchy title: The Mystery of the Hereafter and The Peace of God that Passeth Understanding. The grounds are huge, so it will pay off to get a map from the cemetery office if you plan to look for anything in particular. Grief is in Section E.

A DC institution that offers drop-in dance classes and occasional dance performances.