Exploring the Cathedral's Heights and Depths

Bored with the usual matinee movie routine? Families seeking a more memorable diversion this weekend can climb a tower to the highest spot in the District or make crafts in a gargoyle's lair at the Washington National Cathedral.

At the 68th annual Flower Mart on Friday and Saturday on the cathedral grounds, children also can scale a climbing wall, swish down a giant inflatable slide or whirl around on kiddie rides. Vendors will sell plants, gifts, jewelry and other items, and food for sale will include seafood, barbecue and designer cakes.

"It's a wonderful event for children. It's really like a mini amusement park," said Esther C. Suss, chair of the mart, sponsored by the cathedral's All Hallows Guild, which supports maintenance of the grounds.

This year's Flower Mart salutes Canada, with visits by a Mountie on horseback and a native storyteller, an Inuit crafts workshop for kids, food and freebies, including books, pins and flags.

Gardeners will find herbs and annual and perennial plants, along with local horticulture experts to answer questions. The neogothic cathedral's nave will feature floral arrangements from embassies. Last year, the Belgian Embassy created a carpet in blooms, and Swiss designers sculpted the Matterhorn in flowers.

This is one of only two weekends a year when visitors can climb the Central Tower's 330 stone steps to take in vistas stretching to Virginia. During the ascent, they'll twist their way up a spiral staircase to hear a bell-ringing demonstration and get a close look at the north rose window.

This and every Saturday from 10 to 2, the church's cryptlike basement is open for kids to make crafts in the Gargoyle's Den. On a recent weekend, children were making stone rubbings with paper and crayons, and sculpting gargoyles. They labored over stained-glass-style bookmarks and mosaic pictures crafted of paper, and stacked numbered stones to build an arch.

In the medieval world of the crypt classroom, Fred, a stone gargoyle, resides in retirement. A frightening-looking creature, Fred didn't make the cut to become one of the 110 gargoyles projected from gutters on the cathedral roof to help channel rain away from the building. Now, he spouts water continuously, providing a soft, burbling soundtrack.

"Kids like to look in his mouth, and they're encouraged to touch," said Allison Elder, manager of school and family programs for the cathedral.

The den, designed for ages 6 to 12, usually attracts more than 40 people every Saturday, Elder said. After the workshop, children receive maps and can tour the cathedral to find art similar to pieces they've created.

With Fred and other gargoyles looking on, Jacob Chanin, 8 1/2 , of Washington donned safety goggles, picked up a chisel and wooden mallet and took on a big block of Indiana limestone, a key material in the cathedral's construction. After chipping away for a while, he made a good-size dent in the massive blond stone.

His brother, Ethan, 6, was making a white clay sculpture accented with colored paper squares.

Their mother, Jackie Eyl, said both boys like to work with tools. "Jacob wanted to do some hammering today," Eyl said, "and I did not want him to do it in the house."

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL Massachusetts and Wisconsin avenues NW. 202-537-6200.http://www.nationalcathedral.org.

Flower Mart Friday from 10 to 6 and Saturday from 10 to 5, rain or shine. Free. Tower climbs Friday are scheduled every half-hour starting at 12:30, with the last climb at 3:30; Saturday they begin at 10, with the final one at 3:30. Fee is $5 (must be at least 48 inches tall). 202-537-3185. Free shuttles will run from the Tenleytown-AU Metro station. The cathedral's new underground parking garage is open at Wisconsin Avenue-Hearst Circle.

The Gargoyle's Den Saturdays from 10 to 2. $5 per group of as many as four; $1 each extra person (free during the Flower Mart, but activities will be limited). 202-537-2934.