Incredibly, this spectacular cathedral, situated on a dramatic western crest of Morningside Heights, is still under construction--and has been, continuously, since the cornerstone was first laid on the site of an old orphan asylum in 1892 (the first services were held in 1899). An enormous and ambitious sacred structure, St. John the Divine is said to be the largest cathedral in the world, the biggest Protestant church and either the third or fourth Christian church (a dispute with an Anglican sanctuary in Liverpool clouds the issue). Designed by a succession of architects and built by a succession of teams, the Cathedral tells the story of its own construction in its architecture--Byzantine and Romanesque elements surmounted by French Gothic domes and surrounded by Gothic revival flourishes.