Churches, New York City

St. Patrick's Cathedral was located at the end of our street near our hotel. It is so lovely and so strange to see something this old and of this calibur in the mixture of high-rises and skyscrapers.

It was dedicated to the patron saint of ireland. St.Patrick's is the largest Roman Catholic Church in the US and the seat of the Archdiocese of New York. The cathedral took 21 yrs to build; four times longer and twice the cost as expected. It opened on May 25, 1879. The spirals took an additional 9 yrs. to complete.

Hours of opening:
Monday to Friday 9.00 - 18.00
Saturday March to October 9.00-18.00
November to February 9.00 - 17.00
Sunday March to October 9.00-11.00; 12.45 -
15.00; 16.15 - 18.00
November to February 10.00 - 11.00;
12.45 - 15.00

Admission Charges for 2005
Adult ?4.50
Unwaged: OAP, student, unemployed ?3.50
Family: 2 adults, 2 children (under 18 years) ?10.00

No visitors admitted from 10.45-12.30 and 14.45-16.30 on Sundays except for worship
The Cathedral is closed to visitors on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Saint Stephen's Day

Weekend mass times for St. Patrick's Cathedral
Sat: 8am, 8:30am, 12noon, 12:30pm, and 5:30pm.
Sun: 7am, 8am, 9am, 10:15am, 12noon, 1pm, 4pm, and 5:30pm.
To verify mass times call. 212-753-2261

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St. Thomas is a beautiful Episcopal church with impressive exterior ornamentation and one of the largest reredos in the world. Constructed in the French High Gothic style, it was designed by the architects of Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson and completed in 1913. The delicate, soaring reredos, carved of Dunville stone, contains statues of Christ, saints, martyrs, apostles and other figures relevant to the Christian religion and/or important to the church. George Washington is among them too - see if you can find him!

Other items of interest include:
• The Canterbury Stone - a section of wall from England's Canterbury Cathedral that Saint Thomas à Becket fell against after he was martyred by King Henry II's solders in 1170. The stone is in the floor at the top of the chancel steps.

• "The Adoration of the Magi" - thought to be by Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens

• Gorgeous rose window

• Chantry chapel with carved oak, gilt and polychromed triptych

St. Thomas also has a world-famous choir and choir school, and an organ with 9050 pipes so is a good choice for music-lovers. See the church website for more history, information on services, and choir or organ recital schedules. Museum Planet also has a great on-line gallery of images with audio narration: www.museumplanet.com/tour.php/nyc/st/1

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The large Gothic Church of Saint Paul the Apostle was built in 1885 for the Catholic Paulist Fathers. It is said that the design was inspired by early Christian basilicas in Ravenna (though without mosaics), and contains numerous side chapels. Although largely unknown and ignored by visitors, the interior of the church is very rich in artwork by notable American artists. The artwork within this church happens to be the most beautiful I have seen among New York's churches, making St Paul the Apostle well worth a detour. When I visited in October 2009, the church was about to be covered in scaffolding for a restoration project.

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St John the Divine was the most ambitious American project to copy Europe, with centuries of delay, that I saw. Millions spent, decades still lasting to finish, and a building out of its time. It's beautiful. But does it really deserve the effort?

Why not something great in a modern style?

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This stunning Italianate church is part of the Jesuits complex and school of Saint Francis Xavier. Although the apostolate was founded in 1847, it was not until 1882 that this church and the adjacent school were built. The Jesuits chose an Irish-born architect, Patrick C. Keely, known for designing numerous churches in New York, Boston and Chicago, for the project. He opted for an Italian Renaissance-Baroque style, with a beautifully decorated interior, containing frescoes, Corinthian columns and a coffered ceiling. For a while in recent memory, the church had remained neglected and blackened by pollution, but major restoration work has just been completed. The restored façade was unveiled in late 2009, but the interior was not finished until 2010.

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When Chafin mentioned he was going to take us to the biggest cathedral in the United States, I thought it might still be a bit small compared with some of the humongous European cathedrals I've had a chance to visit. You can therefore imagine my surprised when I walked into one of the largest Christian churches in the world! Saint John the Divine was designed in 1888 and construction began in 1892 in the Morningside Heights area under Bishop Henry Codman Potter, whose prime objective was that his future cathedral be bigger and better than St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue - and he was partly successful in this. During the course of its construction, which was delayed on several occasions, the original Byzantine Romanesque design was changed to Gothic Revival, and a succession of architects over the past century has resulted in a unique blend of architectural styles. The cathedral remains to this day unfinished; however, there's still plenty to be seen: there are some beautiful stained glass windows, seven chapels and, my favourite feature, the American poets' corner. Different guided tours are offered, including one that takes you up to the roof of the cathedral, something that I fully intend on doing next time I'm in New York City. The gardens next to the cathedral are also worth visiting. It's interesting to know that if they ever do finish it according to plans, Saint John the Divine will become the biggest cathedral in the entire world.

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Located at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street, Trinity Church looks slightly out of place amidst the skyscrappers of Lower Manhattan, but its beautiful Gothic Revival architecture and 86 m tall spire, dating back to 1846, are sure to catch the eye of every visitor. Just like at St. Patrick's Cathedral, I appreciated the fact that lights were kept low in Trinity Church, giving the place an atmosphere of quiet sanctuary in the busy financial district. It's also worth visiting the church's historic cemetery, which is especially nice in the spring when the tulips are in bloom. The oldest stone in the churchyard dates back to 1681, and among the famous people buried at Trinity Church is one Alexander Hamilton, the man who appears on American $10 bills. Of particular interest to me was the grave of Charlotte Temple. Charlotte Temple is the name of the main character in Susanna Rowson's 1791 novel "Charlotte, A Tale of Truth". In the novel, Charlotte is seduced by a British army officer and convinced to elope with him to America. He soon leaves her, pregnant and destitute, and she dies in New York City shortly after giving birth to a baby girl. Although there is no historical record of a real-life Charlotte Temple, there is a grave bearing her name in the Trinity Church cemetery. Research has been conducted to find out how this grave came into existence but as of today, no one knows for sure.

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Ground Zero was one of the "tourist places" that I didn't really want to visit but I ended up there a few times by walking to the Staten Island ferry or taking the PATH train to and from Newark Penn.

While walking on Broadway, I found this chapel. What I first liked was the brown-ish and white colors but when I got closer I realized that it was St. Paul's chapel. This chapel is not only the oldest building (still standing) in the city but a survivor of 2 major disasters:

- The Great Fire of 1776
- Sept 11, 2001: when the twin towers collapsed

And it was host to George Washington on his Inauguration day as president of the US.

In the premises, you'll find a small cemetery and a big bronze bell, that was given to the city of New York by the city of London on the first anniversary of Sept. 11.