Search travel destinations

Search Destinations
Browse Destinations

Boston attractions

Mary Baker Eddy Library/Mapparium

www.mbelibrary.org
Frommer's Rating: Negative Star Negative Star Negative Star
Contact:
Phone: 888/222-3711
Phone: 617/450-7000
Address:
200 Massachusetts Ave, Boston MA
Notes: World Headquarters of the First Church of Christ, Scientist
Parking:
Parking $5
Open Hours:
Closed Jan 1, Thanksgiving, and Dec 25
Closed:
Tues-Sun 10am-4pm
Price Info:
Admission $6 adults; $4 seniors, students, and children 6-17
see all listings

Frommer's Review

The Mary Baker Eddy Library, a research center with two floors of interactive exhibits, aims to explore ideas such as liberty and spirituality through history, with a central role for Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science. The most intriguing artifact is the Mapparium [ST], a unique hollow globe 30 feet across. A work of both art and history, it consists of a bronze framework that connects 608 stained-glass panels. Because sound bounces off the nonporous surfaces, the acoustics are as unusual as the aesthetics. As you cross the glass bridge just south of the equator, you'll see the political divisions of the world from 1932 to 1935, when the globe was constructed.

Frommer's content excerpted from Frommer's Boston 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.