The Hollywood Cross, officially known as the Hollywood Pilgrimage Memorial Monument, is a 32-foot-tall steel

Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

situated above the

John Anson Ford Amphitheatre The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, officially nicknamed The Ford, is a music venue in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. The 1,200-seat outdoor amphitheatre is situated within the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains, direct ...

in the

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills is a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It borders Studio City, Universal City and Burbank on the north, Griffith Park on the north and east, Los Feliz on the southeast, Hollyw ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Overlooking the

Cahuenga Pass The Cahuenga Pass (, ; Tongva: ''Kawé’nga''), also known by its Spanish name Paseo de Cahuenga, is a low mountain pass through the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Hollywood Hills district of the City of Los Angeles, Califor ...

, the

Hollywood Freeway The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California (the boundaries of which it does not leave) and one of the busiest in the United States. It is the principal route through the Cahuenga Pass, the primary shortc ...

, and the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

, it serves as a prominent landmark with significant historical and cultural relevance. Originally erected as a memorial for

Christine Wetherill Stevenson Christine Wetherill Stevenson (April 12, 1878 – November 21, 1922) was an heiress of the Pittsburgh Paint Company and founder of the Philadelphia Art Alliance. She helped fund the Daisy Dell which became the Hollywood Bowl, in the Hollywoo ...

, it is owned and maintained by

The Church on the Way The Church on the Way (The First Foursquare Church of Van Nuys) is a Pentecostal church in Van Nuys, California, led by Senior Pastor, Tim Clark. It is affiliated with the Foursquare Church. The church was formerly pastored by Jack Hayford and w ...

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

Historical background

Erected in 1923, the original cross was a wooden structure built as a memorial to Christine Wetherill Stevenson, a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and founder of the Pilgrimage Theatre—now known as the Ford Amphitheatre. Stevenson was instrumental in producing “

The Pilgrimage Play ''The Pilgrimage Play'' is a 1949 historical drama film directed by Frank Strayer, from an original screenplay by Arthur Pierson. It was adapted from the play by Christine Wetherill Stevenson. The film stars Nelson Leigh, Stephen Chase, and Leo ...

,” a dramatization of the life of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, performed at the amphitheater. The illuminated cross complemented these performances, symbolizing the play’s religious themes.

Structural evolution

The initial wooden cross stood until the early 1980s when it fell into disrepair and was subsequently demolished. In the late 1980s, a new cross was constructed using remnants of the original structure left on the hill. This iteration was later replaced in 1993 by the current steel and opaque plastic monument, known as the Hollywood Pilgrimage Memorial Monument. In 1995, it was designated

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cul ...

#617.

Cultural significance

The Hollywood Cross has survived various challenges, including

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The t ...

natural disasters A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...

, and legal disputes. The cross was highlighted in the 2024 documentary “A Light in the Darkness,” which chronicles the monument’s 100-year history and its role in the

cultural landscape Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the c ...

of Hollywood.

References

{{LAHMC Buildings and structures in Hollywood, Los Angeles East Hollywood, Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments

Historical background

Structural evolution

Cultural significance

See also

References