Trinity Church

The rust-colored sandstone walls and deep stone arches of Trinity Church rise from Copley Square like a massive, brooding fortress. Architect Henry Hobson Richardson built this structure in eighteen seventy-seven, opting for a heavy Romanesque style that defied the lighter gothic tastes of his era. When the soft clay of the Back Bay proved unable to support the weight, crews drove four thousand wooden pilings into the earth to hold the foundation. The church settled, but it has held its ground ever since.