If you’ve ever visited downtown Burlington, you may have noticed the beautiful “steeple skyline” that can be seen from multiple directions.
This skyline has served as a beautiful scene for Burlington, and it has inspired artists. One artist in particular, Jim Knapp, of Fort Maddison, Iowa, felt so touched by these steeples that he decided to immortalize their beauty in art form.
I think that everyone can agree, whether religious or not, we can all appreciate the architectural knowledge it took to create these magnificent structures. The purpose of steeples is to allow the ringing of the church bells to be heard all throughout town. This is why steeples are taller than all other surrounding structures, so the ringing of the bells don’t get blocked out by the other structures walls. 
Steeples also serve the purpose of allowing people to easily find a place of worship, this way if anyone ever feels they need some spiritual guidance, but they are unsure of where to go, they may look to the sky to find one of the tall, pointed structures to guide them to a sanctuary. It is also believed that steeples bring a place of worship closer to the heavens and block out any evil spirits from entering the church.
Personally, I am a big fan of the gothic architecture style. Seeing so many wonderfully crafted structures really makes me think about the charm they bring to downtown Burlington. The gothic style of the churches flows very nicely with the rest of downtown Burlington, which is a kind of brick gothic style. I believe that keeping these architectural styles present in downtown Burlington gives the area a genuine feeling of old America. It is amazing to see the influence the founders of Burlington had on the style of this town.
