Christian Science Plaza and Reflecting Pool

Why is it significant?

You have arrived on the monumental expanse of the Christian Science Plaza, one of the most serene, grand, and acoustically mesmerizing urban public plazas in the United States. Designed in the late 1960s by the illustrious firm I.M.

Key Facts

Open the walk

You have arrived on the monumental expanse of the Christian Science Plaza, one of the most serene, grand, and acoustically mesmerizing urban public plazas in the United States. Designed in the late 1960s by the illustrious firm I.M. Pei & Partners in collaboration with landscape architects Cossutta & Ponte, this fourteen-acre open-air precinct represents the international world headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist, founded in Boston by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879.

The visual anchor of the plaza is the colossal 686-foot-long rectangular reflecting pool, which holds over one million gallons of constantly circulating water. In the summer breeze, the calm water surface reflects the classical stone church dome and the surrounding modernist colonnades with mirror-like clarity.

Dominating the plaza is The First Church of Christ, Scientist, comprising two interconnected architectural masterworks: the original 1894 Romanesque Mother Church built of rough-faced granite, and the monumental 1906 Mother Church Extension, crowned by a majestic 224-foot classical Renaissance dome inspired by Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Inside the Publishing Society building rests the famous Mapparium, a three-story three-dimensional stained-glass globe constructed in 1935 that visitors traverse on a glass bridge, experiencing unique acoustic whispering-gallery phenomena while viewing the geopolitical world map as it existed in 1935. Along the plaza perimeter, a circular spray fountain shoots water geysers into the air, where children splash joyfully during hot summer afternoons.

Standing beside the vast reflecting pool with the wind rippling the water and the majestic dome silhouetted against the open sky, you are enveloped in profound architectural serenity. The brilliant synthesis of I.M. Pei's concrete modernism with monumental classical forms creates an unforgettable urban temple of light and water. The vast reflecting pool and the stately classical colonnade create an inspiring sense of civic grandeur, inviting contemplation and peace in the heart of the metropolis.

Walk southwest along Massachusetts Avenue toward the historic brick entrance of Symphony Hall.