Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church

Why go

Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church earns time because it offers a quiet surviving landscape from the city's early immigrant and maritime communities. Its central thread is an 18th-century brick church, burial ground and Swedish colonial history beside the Delaware. The restrained brick nave preserves the scale of an early colonial congregation. Gravestones and mature trees make the churchyard an unusually legible historic landscape.

What to look for

• The restrained brick nave preserves the scale of an early colonial congregation.
• Gravestones and mature trees make the churchyard an unusually legible historic landscape.

The full story

Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church is best understood through an 18th-century brick church, burial ground and Swedish colonial history beside the Delaware. Gloria Dei Church, known locally as Old Swedes', is a historic church located in the Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 929 South Water Street, bounded by Christian Street on the north, South Christopher Columbus Boulevard on the east, and Washington Avenue on the south. It was built between 1698 and 1700, making it the oldest church in Pennsylvania and second oldest Swedish church in the United States after Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes) in Wilmington, Delaware. John Smart and John Buett worked as carpenters, while Richard Cantril supplied the bricks. The church displays the English vernacular style of church design, which combines elements of the Medieval and Gothic styles. The church's vestry and entranceway were added in 1703 to buttress the walls, which had begun to buckle under the weight of the roof. The tower was added c.1733, and interior alterations were made in 1845, designed by Samuel Sloan. The congregation dates to 1677, five years before the founding of the city of Philadelphia, and the graveyard around the church to about the same time. Formerly a Swedish Lutheran congregation, the church has been Episcopalian since 1845.

Useful to know

• Check the parish calendar before expecting interior access.
• Combine the grounds with a Delaware waterfront stop rather than treating them as a long standalone visit.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.