Old St Patrick's Cathedral
Mott & Prince Streets
Built 1809 thru 1815 Architect
Joseph-Francois Mangin
Restored 1868
The original St Patrick's Cathedral
in New York City was then, as the new one now, the center of
religious life for members of the Archdiocese of New York and the
seat of the Archbishop. The oldest Roman Catholic church building
in New York City, it played vital social and political roles in
the lives of young immigrants, helping them adapt to their new
home
Now known as Old St Patrick's, the
cathedral on Prince and Mott streets had served the Irish
immigrant population since 1809. Land for a new cathedral was
purchased in 1852 and construction started in 1859. Before the new
cathedral could be completed, St Patrick's was ravaged by fire in
1866. The cathedral was restored and rededicated by John Cardinal
McClosky in 1868
Mangin was designing the cathedral
while his most prominent work, New York City Hall was being
constructed. Though more Gothically ecclesiastical, one can see
echoes of Mangin's City Hall design in the cathedral
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