SAINT PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL

Two Saint Patrick Cathedrals

There are two Saint Patrick Cathedrals in New York City.  The original one, Old Saint Patrick's Cathedral (built from 1809 to 1815), is on the Lower East Side at Mulberry Street.  The best known Fifth Avenue Saint Patrick's (built in 1879), is the largest Catholic cathedral in America.

Old Saint Patrick's is the oldest Roman Catholic church in New York City.  Over the years, Irish, Italian, Hispanic and Asian immigrants have worshipped here.  It was designed by architect Joseph Francois Mangrin, who also designed the magnificant City Hall in Lower Manhattan.  This neighborhood was so wild when the Cathedral was built that foxes were often caught inside.  It was also one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the New York City of its time.  Immigrants gangs, such as those portrayed in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, lived in this part of Manhattan.  To protect the cathedral, brick fences were built around it and policemen were hired to be on duty throughout the night.  Priests at the church lived in a building on Mulberry Street only steps from the church's door.  But, they were so afraid of crossing the street that they requested that an underground tunnel be constructed so they had safe passage to the church's sanctuary.    

The interior of this small cathedral is breaktaking.  It has 120 foot long columns of vaulting stone arches, chandeliers on long chains, a marble altar and floors, a carved motifs of saints, stained-glass windows, and a painting of the Resurrection.   The bell tower is unusual and resembles the bell towers of old California missions.  The interior may look somewhat familiar to fans of The Godfather movie.  It was used in the baptism scene in that film.  Film director, Martin Scorsese, served as an altar boy here and part of his film, Mean Streets, was shot in the cathedral's cemetery.  

Old Saint Patrick's also has one of New York City's musical masterpieces, a beautiful 2,500 Henry Erben pipe organ know for its acoustics.  Designed by a world-renowned New York City organ builder, Henry Erben, the organ was built by European immigrants and American craftsmen and installed after the Civil War in 1868.  No expenses was spared and its costs of $15,000 was quite a large sum of money for that period.  A fire damaged the old cathedral in 1866 and it was restored in 1868.  Erben also designed Trinity Church's organ in 1846.  

New Saint Patrick's Cathedral was built at Fifth Avenue (between 50th & 51st Streets) on land then far uptown that was still a wilderness.  Construction of the cathedral, funded by both wealthy Catholics and poor immigrants, took longer than planned partially because it was interrupted during the Civil War.  Its spires were not finished until 1888.  The cathedral's design is a Gothic-style influenced by the design of the Cologne Cathedral, one of Europe’s most beautiful.    

James Renwick, Jr., who designed the new St. Patrick’s, was a civil engineer and had not trained as an architect.  In addition to new Saint Patrick's, Renwick designed some of the most beautiful churches in Manhattan:  Grace Church in the East Village, Saint Bartolomew's Church on Madison Avenue, and All Saints' Roman Catholic Church in Harlem.  

Both cathedrals are New York City Landmarks and on the National Register of Historic Places.