There is a gargoyle with Darth Vader’s head on it on the Washington Cathedral.

There is a gargoyle with Darth Vader’s head on it on the Washington Cathedral.

It was placed there after a child’s “design a carving” competition was held in the 80s to decide what character should adorn the Cathedral.

From the northwest parking lot, near the top of the northwest tower, Darth Vader can be spotted between two massive arches. The bust will be to the upper left of a closer, larger skull-shaped grotesque.

Darth Vader and the others sit rather high and can only be seen clearly with binoculars. The grotesque and gargoyle (the one with a spout) served an important function in Gothic architecture because they were a way to get rain away from the side of a building.

The Cathedral is the burial place of many notable people, including Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller, Admiral George Dewey, Bishop Satterlee and the architects Henry Vaughan and Philip Frohman.