Cathedral - Notre Dame de L'Eau

Given the lack of religious following in LEGO City 2, one might find the existence of a cathedral in Aqua-Metropolis surprising.

However, the hardships of this transient age provoked change in many unusual ways.

While in this state, the original LEGO City 2 land had been sold, but the new land could not complete purchase until it was properly prepared.  During this time, the interest rate was free to vary.  If the interest rate climbed too high, the citizens would endure severe financial hardship when completing purchase of the new land.  The logical LEGO citizens refused to accept this situation of non-control.  They searched for some way to control the interest rate, but nothing worked.  Finally, the mayor proposed the idea of worshipping the mystical god of interest rates.  While everyone knew that this was logically senseless, it seemed better than doing nothing.

So, the god of interest rates has become the state-sanctioned deity.  Worship services are held on Sunday, but for different reasons than in other religions.  In this case, worshiping occurs on Sunday because the markets open on Monday.  Prayer is concentrated immediately prior to the market opening in hopes of maximum affect.

Contrasting the everlasting good of the god of interest rates is the ultimate figure of malevolence, the Fed chairman, Alan Greenspan. This evil beast has the power to drive up interest rates at his slightest whim, wreaking havoc with the citizens of Aqua-Metropolis.

After several generations, this pseudo-religion has become more and more popular, and many have accepted the true existence of the interest rate deity.  Several individuals have begun writing mythical texts on the creation of the god and the city itself.  Some have even begun to accept these mythical texts as facts.  Many intellectuals worry that the situation has gotten out of hand, but the benefits are still considered to outweigh the potential problems.

Given the popularity of the religion, its not surprising that the cathedral is the largest building in the city, and one of the first constructed.

The structure is shown on its construction dry-dock.  However, some water has already been applied to the lower sections and sea-life has been introduced (see bottom-left).

The side of the transept is graced by four, bulbous, rose windows, and a gate styled window on top.  These windows admit an eerie, blue light into the center of the building. 

Flying buttresses are used to prevent the enormously high ceiling from pushing the walls outward.  By concentrating the structural weight in such buttresses, the rest of the wall can be transparent, admitting the maximum possible light, and giving the feeling of a "screen" rather than a wall.