St. Patrick's Old Cathedral

Coordinates: 40°43′25″N 73°59′43″W / 40.72361°N 73.99528°W / 40.72361; -73.99528
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the former cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. For the current cathedral, see
St. Patrick's Cathedral (Manhattan). For other uses, see St. Patrick's Cathedral
.

St. Patrick's Old Cathedral
New York City Landmark
Area1.8 acres (0.73 ha)
Part ofChinatown and Little Italy Historic District (ID10000012)
NRHP reference No.77000964[1]
NYSRHP No.06101.000076
NYCL No.0187
Significant dates
Added to NRHPAugust 29, 1977
Designated CPFebruary 12, 2010
Designated NYSRHPJune 23, 1980[2]
Designated NYCLJune 21, 1966

The Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, sometimes shortened to St. Patrick's Old Cathedral or simply Old St. Patrick's, is a

Prince and Houston streets, with the primary entrance on Mott Street. Old St. Patrick parish merged with Most Precious Blood parish, and the two churches share priests and administrative staff.[6]

The Old St. Patrick's church building was designated a

minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI
on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 2010.

History

St. Patrick's Cathedral before the reconstruction of 1840

The first Catholic parish church in New York City was

bishop
. When complete, the church was the largest in the city. Its outer dimensions are 120 by 80 feet, and the inner vault is 85 feet high (37m x 24m x 26m).

Until 1830 the cathedral was the ending place of New York's annual

Spanish political refugee from Cuba. In New York, he served as the chaplain off the Hibernian Universal Benevolent Society.[3][11] Eventually, the parade moved uptown to pass in front of the new St. Patrick's Cathedral (1879).[citation needed
]

In 1836, the original cathedral was the subject of an attempted

muskets.[3][11] Afterwards, the Ancient Order of Hibernians established its headquarters across the street from the church.[citation needed
]

In 1838, the cathedral was the location for the funeral of

librettist, who had fled to America in 1805 fearing bankruptcy. He became a professor at Columbia University and started what eventually became the Metropolitan Opera. The funeral was attended by an enormous number of people.[12]

On October 13, 1859, the cathedral was the venue for the lavish wedding of the 55-year-old Don Esteban Santa Cruz de Oviedo, an immensely wealthy Cuban landowner and slave-owner, to the 18-year-old socialite, Frances Amelia Bartlett, daughter of Washington Allon Bartlett, the family of whom was residing on 14th Street. The marriage was heralded by the press as "The Diamond Wedding," after the luxurious preparations were revealed, including opulent gifts of jewelry by the groom. It also sparked public debate and mockery over the issue of May-December unions. [13] [14][15]

On October 7, 1866, the cathedral was gutted by a fire that spread from a nearby shop.[16] Even though the new St. Patrick's was already under construction, the old cathedral was restored under the direction of architect Henry Engelbert. The first Mass was celebrated in the rebuilt cathedral on April 1, 1867.[17] The new Old Cathedral was reopened in 1868.[18]

Since the current St. Patrick's Cathedral opened in 1879, St. Patrick's Old Cathedral has been a parish church, the pastor residing in the old Bishop's House at 263 Mulberry Street. Today's multi-ethnic parish includes the territory of the former Most Holy Crucifix Parish, whose church for a time was the nearby

Archdiocese of New York.[citation needed
]

Cathedral complex

New York City landmark, designated in 1966.[19] The school finally closed in 2010 as enrollment dwindled, and the building was converted into residential and office space.[20]

In 1859, a "Gingerbread Gothic"[3] Chancery Office Building was built at 266 Mulberry Street, just north of the sanctuary, designed by James Renwick Jr. and William Rodrigue, who would go on to design the new cathedral.[7] The building would later become St. Michael's Chapel[3] and, from 1936 until 2019, St. Michael's Russian Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite.[21] St. Michael's is the last Russian Catholic church in New York City, and was one of only four remaining such sanctuaries in the United States.[22] Those services are now held at the Church of St. Catherine of Siena, 411 East 68th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.[23]

Underneath the basilica are

Countess Annie Leary, the prominent wine merchant Dominick Lynch,[25] and Congressman John Kelly.[26] In addition, two New Yorkers who are currently on the road to sainthood, Pierre Toussaint and Father Isaac Hecker, were originally interred there before being moved; Toussaint to the new St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Hecker to St. Paul the Apostle Church. The founding mother superior of New York's first Sisters of Mercy convent, Mary Agnes O'Connor, is also buried there.[27]

Old St. Patrick's Cathedral gallery holds a large pipe organ that was built in 1868 by Henry Erben, originally operated without any use of electricity. After the new cathedral opened uptown in 1879, the Erben organ was left downtown with minimal alterations. In 2004, the Organ Historical Society designated it as an instrument of "exceptional historical merit, worthy of preservation", the organ equivalent of national landmark status. The instrument remains in use for Sunday services while awaiting further restoration.[28][29]

  • Mulberry Street entrance
    Mulberry Street entrance
  • Mott Street entrance
    Mott Street entrance
  • Interior
    Interior
  • Former Chancery
    Former Chancery
  • Cemetery
    Cemetery
  • Former School
    Former School

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. November 7, 2014. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-231-12543-7
    ., p. 236
  4. ^ Betty J. Ezequelle (March 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Old St. Patrick's Cathedral Complex". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2009. See also: "Accompanying 11 photos". Archived from the original on October 9, 2012.
  5. ^ Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor, The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women. New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914, pp. 303–307.
  6. ^ "Shrine Church of the Most Precious Blood". BASILICA OF ST. PATRICK'S OLD CATHEDRAL. Archived from the original on May 30, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  7. ^ a b NYCLPC, p. 43
  8. ISBN 978-0-300-11465-2
    ., p. 1142
  9. ^ a b Burrows & Wallace, pp. 480–481
  10. ^ NYCLPC, p. 28
  11. ^ a b c Burrows & Wallace, pp. 543–546
  12. ^ "Lorenzo da Ponte: the scandalous life of the man who wrote Mozart's words". Classic FM. Archived from the original on December 20, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  13. ^ "City Intelligence: The Famous Marriage". The New York Times. October 13, 1859. p. 5. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  14. ^ Bartlett, Washington A. (October 18, 1859). "To the Editor of The New York Times: The Oviedo Wedding and the Press". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  15. ^ "Satirical Poem". The Buffalo Daily Republic. October 26, 1859. p. 2. Retrieved August 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  17. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  18. ^ Mendelsohn, Joyce; Garrity, James E. "History". Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral. Archived from the original on November 30, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  19. ^ NYCLPC, p. 42
  20. ^ Kaysennov, Ronda (November 8, 2015). "Luxury Condos in a Former NoLIta Orphanage". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  21. ^ "Stmichaelruscath.org". Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
  22. ^ "Stmichaelruscath.org". Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
  23. ^ "New Location February 9 – Community of Saint Michael". February 8, 2019. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  24. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  25. ^ "Dominick Lynch gave Rome streets, parks, and building sites". Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  26. ^ Plitt, Amy (August 22, 2016). "A rare crypt beneath Soho's St. Patrick's Old Cathedral asks $7 million". Curbed NY. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  27. ^ Lunney, Sheila (2009). "O'Connor, Mary". Dictionary of Irish Biography - Cambridge University Press. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  28. ^ Whitney, Craig R. (October 26, 2004). "Arts, Briefly: Organ Donors Sought". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  29. ^ "Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral". American Guild of Organists. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.

Bibliography

External links

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