clerestories with multiple panels, as well as a smaller sanctuary clerestory window above each of the ambulatory clerestories. The apse's walls are supported by gabled buttresses, which are taller than the height of the walls, and contain niches with statues. Choir The choir was consecrated in 1911. It consists of two sets of wooden stalls facing each other, with three rows in each stall. The stalls were made by the Philadelphia-based John Barber Company. The westernmost unit in the southern row of choir stalls is called the "Dean's Stall". The roof above the choir is supported by eight columns, each tall with a diameter and a weight of . The columns' foundations descend as much as into the bedrock below them. The parapets behind the two sections of the choir were originally installed in 1922 with twenty niches for statues of the spiritual heroes of the twenty centuries since the birth of Christ. For example, the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries are respectively represented by statues of William Shakespeare, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. The niche for the 20th century was left blank through the end of that century. In 2001 the choir parapet was completed with carvings of Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Susan B. Anthony. and Mohandas Gandhi. In addition, the finials on both rows of stalls were carved by Otto Jahnsen and depict church-music composers and performers. On the floor are tiles designed by the Grueby Faience Company, with geometric patterns and imagery reminiscent of the iconography in other cathedrals. A compass rose, the official icon of the Anglican Communion (in which the Episcopal Church participates), is located on the floor between the two stalls, in the center of the choir. Great Organ The Great Organ was built by Ernest M. Skinner in 1906–1910. It is located above the choir on the north and south sides, and consists of four manual keyboards with several pedals. The opening recital was given in 1911 by Clarence Dickinson. In 1954, it was enlarged by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Opus 150-A, under the tonal direction of G. Donald Harrison. The organ contains 8,514 pipes, though it previously included 8,035. While most of the pipes are located above the choir stalls, the Great Organ also controls the State Trumpet, located beneath the rose window about to the west. The 2001 fire in the north transept resulted in heavy smoke damage to