The Groom Cross, built in 1995 by Steve Thomas of Pampa, Texas, is the largest free-standing cross in the western hemisphere. It stands at 190 feet tall and is 19 stories long, making it the tallest cross in the Northern Hemisphere. The cross was inspired by another giant cross in Ballinger, Texas, which inspired an even more gigantic cross in Effingham, Illinois. The cross was completed in two shops in Pampa, Texas, by over 100 welders and erected in July 1995.
The cross can be seen from as far as 25 miles away and is surrounded by statues depicting scenes in the life of Jesus. There is also a small building with a replica of the Shroud of Turin, a visitor center with bathrooms and souvenirs, and a church that is still active today. The site of Groom was chosen in 1902 along the route of the Chicago, Rock Island, and Gulf Railway.
The Groom Cross is located on the Old Mother Road, historic Route 66, in Groom, Texas, just off Interstate 40’s Exit 112, about 42 miles east of Amarillo. The cross is free-standing, weighs 1,250 tons (2,500,000 pounds), and is 190 feet (19 stories) tall. It attracts a mix of believers, locals, and tourists.
The Groom Cross was built by Steve Thomas after being disgusted with the large billboards advertising pornography locations along I-40. The cross is said to be the second-largest cross in the western hemisphere and has been open to the public 24/7.
📹 Stations of the Cross at Groom Texas | Places to visit in Texas
The bronze sculptures here were absolutely beautiful and could be appreciated by anyone for their artistic value no matter what …
Who built the groom cross?
Travel along this path to Western Street (Ranch Road 295) and turn right (north) to County Road BB, then turn left (west) to see the Groom Cross. Groom, Texas Cross by Kathy Alexander, 2018. The 19-story cross, standing 190 feet tall, was built by Steve Thomas of Pampa, Texas, in 1995.
Long before Groom, Texas was ever established as a town, the area was first explored and charted by Captain Randolph Barnes Marcy in 1849 as he traveled from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Santa Fe, New Mexico, along the Canadian River. Ten years later, he would publish his findings, including maps and illustrations in a book entitledThe Prairie Traveler: A Handbook for Overland Expeditions.
In 1882, Colonel B. B. Groom, an experienced cattleman from Lexington, Kentucky, leased from the New York and Texas Land Company nearly 600,000 acres of land in Hutchinson, Carson, Gray, and Roberts Counties in the Texas Panhandle and organized the Francklyn Land and Cattle Company. Unfortunately, Groom’s vision of the finest and most desirable cattle ranch in the United States did not materialize for him, and the company went bankrupt just four years later. However, the Colonel would not be forgotten, as, when the site was chosen in 1902 to be a station along the route of the Chicago, Rock Island, and Gulf Railway, it was named for him.
A general store and post office was established in the same year, a mercantile store in 1903. By 1906 the town boasted a barbershop, a bank, a hotel, a lumberyard, a school, and several more new businesses. When the town was incorporated in 1911, it had more than 250 residents. While benefiting from the oil boom of the 1920s and the traffic alongRoute 66, it never grew beyond much more than 800 people.
Where is the real cross that Jesus died on?
It is even reported that the truth had signs of having been part of a crucifixion because of the location of nails and other elements of torture. As Helena completed her mission, part of the cross was taken to Rome and the other remained in Jerusalem. According to the stories that are part of religious traditions, these remains are preserved in the Basilica of the Holy Cross in the Italian capital. As part of the days of evangelization, these objects were shared throughout much of Europe to be kept in temples.
These were the last seven words of Christ as he agonized:
1. “Father, forgive them, because they dont know what theyre doing”
Where is Jesus’ crown of thorns now?
Since the April 2019 inferno, the famous Louvre museum has been the crowns temporary home, where the relic arrived along with other objects from Notre Dames treasury: monstrances, chalices, reliquaries, crosses and sacred vessels. Louvres teams of experts took charge of cleaning and restoring them. From October 2023 to this January, they organized a special exhibition to showcase them.
But the crown of thorns was not part of the exhibition. “It is not a work of art, but an object of veneration,” Grunenwald pointed out. “All these objects are prestigious, but none is as valuable as the crown of thorns.”
Throughout Lent, the faithful had the opportunity to venerate the crown in the Church of Saint-Germain lAuxerrois, not far from the Louvre. This is where the daily liturgical services, usually celebrated by the canons of Notre Dame, take place as the cathedral prepares for the Dec. 8 reopening.
When was the Jerusalem cross made?
While the symbol of the five-fold cross appears to originate in the 11th century, its association with the Kingdom of Jerusalem dates to the second half of the 13th century.
The symbolism of the five-fold cross is variously given as the Five Wounds of Christ, Christ and the four evangelists, or Christ and the four quarters of the world. The symbolism of five crosses representing the Five Wounds is first recorded in the context of the consecration of the St Brelades Church under the patronage of Robert of Normandy (before 1035); the crosses are incised in the churchs altar stone.
The cross-and-crosslets or Tealby pennies minted under Henry II of England during 1158–1180 have the Jerusalem cross on the obverse, with the four crosslets depicted as decussate (diagonal).5 Similar cross designs on the obverse of coins go back to at least the Anglo-Saxon period.6.
When was the cross invented?
Abstract. In antiquity crucifixion was considered one of the most brutal and shameful modes of death. Probably originating with the Assyrians and Babylonians, it was used systematically by the Persians in the 6th century BC. Alexander the Great brought it from there to the eastern Mediterranean countries in the 4th century BC, and the Phoenicians introduced it to Rome in the 3rd century BC. It was virtually never used in pre-Hellenic Greece. The Romans perfected crucifion for 500 years until it was abolished by Constantine I in the 4th century AD. Crucifixion in Roman times was applied mostly to slaves, disgraced soldiers, Christians and foreigners only very rarely to Roman citizens. Death, usually after 6 hours 4 days, was due to multifactorial pathology: after-effects of compulsory scourging and maiming, haemorrhage and dehydration causing hypovolaemic shock and pain, but the most important factor was progressive asphyxia caused by impairment of respiratory movement. Resultant anoxaemia exaggerated hypovolaemic shock. Death was probably commonly precipitated by cardiac arrest, caused by vasovagal reflexes, initiated inter alia by severe anoxaemia, severe pain, body blows and breaking of the large bones. The attending Roman guards could only leave the site after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim.
Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion.
Maslen MW, Mitchell PD. Maslen MW, et al. J R Soc Med. 2006 Apr;99:185-8. doi: 10.1177/014107680609900416. J R Soc Med. 2006. PMID: 16574970 Free PMC article. Review. No abstract available.
Where is the tallest cross in the world?
ListNameCountryHeightSkopje Millennium CrossNorth Macedonia66 mBell Tower of Lakeuden Risti ChurchFinland65.2 mGreat CrossUnited States63.4 mEl Glorioso Cristo de ChiapasMexico62 m.
How tall is the groom cross?
A 19-story cross erected by The Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries is located next to Interstate 40 northwest of the town limits. This 190-foot-tall (58m) free-standing cross can be seen from 20 miles (32km) away and eight months were required to construct the cross. Surrounding the base of the cross are life-sized statues of the 14 Stations of the Cross. In addition to the giant cross and the Stations of the Cross, there is also a visitor center, gift shop and amphitheater located at the site.8.
Inspired by this cross, residents of Effingham, Illinois, erected a similar cross that is 8 feet (2.4m) taller. Though some tourist brochures claim this cross to be the largest in the Western Hemisphere, it is smaller than the Valle de los Caídos cross in Spain, which is elevated 500 feet (152.4m) overground. The cross is also 18 feet (5.5m) shorter than the 208ft (63m) cross at the Mission Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine, Florida, and shorter than the 213-foot-tall (65m) Lakeuden Risti cross-shaped church tower in Seinäjoki, Finland. The movie Leap of Faith was filmed on location near the site of the cross in Groom, but the movie was filmed before the cross was built.
Also in Groom one can find a leaning water tower, sometimes called The Leaning Tower of Texas or The Leaning Tower of Britten, which currently serves as a decorative item and roadside attraction. The leaning tower was originally a functioning water tower which was slated for demolition until Ralph Britten bought it and moved it to serve as a sign for his truck stop and tourist information center (located on a stretch of interstate that was once a part of U.S. Route 66). This truck stop can still be seen, set back off the road behind the tower, now boarded up and in disrepair following a devastating fire decades ago.9.
What does the ☩ mean?
Jerusalem cross made of five Greek crosses: one in each corner and a larger one in the center.
Has the True Cross been carbon dated?
Theres quite a lot of what. Looks like lacquer. Thats across the top of the of the wood. And lacquer will have a different radio carbon concentration probably to the age of the wood.
How tall is the cross in Brazil?
Constructed between 1922 and 1931, the statue is 30 metres (98 ft) high, excluding its 8-metre (26 ft) pedestal. The arms stretch 28 metres (92 ft) wide.
Christ the Redeemer (Portuguese: Cristo Redentor, standard Brazilian Portuguese: ˈkɾistu ʁedẽˈtoʁ) is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, created by French-Polish sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida sculpted the face. Constructed between 1922 and 1931, the statue is 30 metres (98ft) high, excluding its 8-metre (26ft) pedestal. The arms stretch 28 metres (92ft) wide.12 It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone.345 Christ The Redeemer differs considerably from its original design, as the initial plan was a large Christ with a globe in one hand and a cross in the other. Although the project organisers originally accepted the design, it later changed to the statue of today, with the arms spread out wide.
The statue weighs 635 metric tons (625 long, 700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca National Park overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro. This statue is the largest Art Deco style sculpture in the world.6 A symbol of Christianity around the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil and was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.7.
Vincentian priest Pedro Maria Boss first suggested placing a Christian monument on Mount Corcovado in the mid-1850s to honor Princess Isabel, regent of Brazil and the daughter of Emperor PedroII, but the project was not approved.1 In 1889, the country became a republic, and owing to the separation of church and state the proposed statue was dismissed.8.
Did the Romans invent the cross?
Original Question: Did the Romans invent crucifixion, and what are its origins? No, it was invented by the Persians sometime between 300-400 BCE, but it was widely used during Roman times as a punishment for the most serious of crimes.
📹 THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IN GROOM, TEXAS — WILLIAM LOCKMILLER PHOTOGRAPHY
A video I made of The Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Groom, Texas. I spent around 3-4 hours there photographing each statue …
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