Kathleen from San Francisco

About me Born on an American Army base in Germany, I came to the states when I was six months old and my parents were stationed back home at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington, where I spent my entire childhood. Little did I know that the military lifestyle was going to become what inspired me to become an artist. I have been a photographer for most of my life. Whether I knew it o...

Jun 5, 2025

St. Peter and Paul Church San Francisco

The ruse

""St. Peter and Paul Church" in San Francisco is where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio got married - except they didn't! Also, check out these statues..."

I pass by St. Peter and Paul Cathedral all the time when I’m in North Beach. It’s directly across the street from Washington Square Park (which is currently being redone). It’s a beautiful church and I recently became interested in it because I’d heard that Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio got married there. Being a Marilyn Monroe buff, I looked into it further and discovered that that claim is not quite accurate.

It turns out that Joe got a divorce from his first wife whom he married in this church, so in order to get properly divorced in the eyes of the church, he’d have to get the first marriage annulled through the church. He didn’t. Consequently, he and Marilyn couldn’t get married there. What they did instead was, after their civil ceremony at city hall, they went to the church and took pictures on the steps in front so it appeared they got married there. Scandalous!

That’s not all I find interesting about this church. On the exterior, the architect saw fit to adorn it with what I thought was a winged cow. Turns out, it and the three other animals embellishing the exterior are in order: an ox (St. Luke), a lion (St. Mark), and an eagle (St. John).

Both interesting choices for sure -- on the part of Marilyn and Joe and the architect.

Art & culture

About this spot

666 Filbert Street

US$

free

Website

4154210809

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