Mapparium

The Mapparium is a three-story-tall globe made of stained glass that is viewed from a 30-foot-long (9.1 m) bridge through its interior. It is an exhibit at The Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston, Massachusetts.

Built in 1935 and based upon Rand McNally political maps published the previous year, the Mapparium shows the political world as it was at that time, including such long-disused labels as Italian East Africa and Siam, as well as more recently defunct political entities such as the Soviet Union. In 1939, 1958, and 1966 the Church considered updating the map, but rejected it on the basis of cost and the special interest it holds as an historical artifact.

In the 1930s, during the construction of the Christian Science Publishing Society building, the architect Chester Lindsay Churchill was inspired to design a globe to represent the "Christian Science Monitor"'s global awareness and global reach.

Churchill was originally influenced by the famous spinning globe in the lobby of the New York Daily News building.

The 608 stained glass panels were produced by the Rambusch Company of New York City and the Mapparium was opened to the public on June 1, 1935.

The Mapparium was closed in 1998 for a four-year cleaning and renovation. It reopened in 2002 as an exhibit of The Mary Baker Eddy Library, and now features a light-and-sound-show that illustrates how the world has changed since 1935. Computer-controlled lighting by the Color Kinetics company provides effects and highlights regions as the narration discusses them. The stained glass restoration was performed by the Boston-area firm Serpentino Stained Glass.

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