LEGO® Cathedral
Help the sixth-largest cathedral become the world's largest built from LEGO® bricks!
On our way to 500,000 LEGO® bricks!
If you missed the 83 years of construction it took to build Washington National Cathedral, now’s your chance to watch the Cathedral rise again – only this time out of LEGO® bricks! When completed, over 500,000 LEGO® bricks will form a 1:40 scale replica of the Cathedral that’s more than 13 feet long, 8 feet tall and bigger than a minivan.
Even better, donations to build our LEGO® Cathedral also help support earthquake restoration efforts of the actual Cathedral!
So far, visitors and online donors from across the country and around the world have donated and spread the word! Help us break a world record to be the largest cathedral ever built from LEGO® bricks!
Current Brick Count:
Build Progress
Explore some progress photos from the laying of the "foundation brick" onward, as we build toward 500,000! Click an image for more details and to open the full gallery.
Volunteers Needed!
build with usLEGO® Cathedral FAQ
We are currently in the process of re-opening the exhibit to the public. Thank you for your patience and we hope to announce regular exhibit hours soon.
The exhibit located on the Cathedral’s main level. After you enter the nave, turn right and the entrance is straight ahead past the George Washington statue. The exhibit is wheelchair and stroller accessible.
YOU get to build the model! This is a community building project and all bricks have been placed by people like you. Come visit the exhibit to make a donation supporting the Cathedral’s earthquake repair and receive your LEGO® bricks. Volunteers will help show you how to add your bricks to the module we are currently working on.
When you visit the exhibit, you may access our digital donation form on your own device or at the welcome desk by the main entrance.
Yes! You can make an online donation using the form below and for each $2 you give, we will add a LEGO® brick to the model on your behalf.
Any donations made via our website go towards funding bricks that are added to the model by our volunteers. If you want to be the person adding the bricks to the model, please come to the exhibit to make your donation in person.
The first LEGO® brick was placed on March 1, 2019. Just like the foundation stone of the actual Cathedral, the LEGO® brick was placed in the area that would become Bethlehem Chapel.
The exhibit temporarily closed starting in March 2020 to visitors and volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic and is in the process of fully re-opening.
The speed of construction depends entirely on the donations that are received, as the model is built entirely from donations. Based on progress from the first year of construction, the model could be complete as early as 2027.
All pieces used are existing LEGO® bricks, many from recognizable LEGO® sets! Repurposing existing elements in creative, unusual ways is at the heart of LEGO® building.
Help build from home
Not able to help us build in person? You can still help build our LEGO® brick replica and restore the actual Cathedral! For each $2 that you donate, our team will place a LEGO® brick onto the model on your behalf. You can donate as many bricks as you’d like to help our LEGO® model continue to grow, and all proceeds will help fund the remaining $15 million in repairs to fix major damage from the 2011 earthquake that rocked the Cathedral, damaging its pinnacles, buttresses and roofing.
The Cathedral segregates and tracks all funds gifted for a specific purpose for that restricted purpose. They are spent and released in accordance with the lower of the amount budgeted in the associated annual operation or capital budgets, or actual expenses incurred for the restricted purpose.