From Abyssinian to Zion
A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship
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- $37.99
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- $37.99
Publisher Description
From modest chapels to majestic cathedrals, and historic synagogues to modern mosques and Buddhist temples: this photo-filled, pocket-size guidebook presents 1,079 houses of worship in Manhattan and lays to rest the common perception that skyscrapers, bridges, and parks are the only defining moments in the architectural history of New York City. With his exhaustive research of the city's religious buildings, David W. Dunlap has revealed (and at times unearthed) an urban history that reinforces New York as a truly vibrant center of community and cultural diversity.
Published in conjunction with a New-York Historical Society exhibition, From Abyssinian to Zion is a sometimes quirky, always intriguing journey of discovery for tourists as well as native New Yorkers. Which popular pizzeria occupies the site of the cradle of the Christian and Missionary Alliance movement, the Gospel Tabernacle? And where can you find the only house of worship in Manhattan built during the reign of Caesar Augustus? Arranged alphabetically, this handy guide chronicles both extant and historical structures and includes
650 original photographs and 250 photographs from rarely seen archives
24 detailed neighborhood maps, pinpointing the location of each building
concise listings, with histories of the congregations, descriptions of architecture, and accounts of prominent priests, ministers, rabbis, imams, and leading personalities in many of the congregations
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With 899 photographs and 24 maps, this encyclopedia of congregations and religious buildings in Manhattan is an indispensable resource for anyone who is interested in religion and architecture in the city. Published in collaboration with the New-York Historical Society, the book is not organized by neighborhood or denomination, but alphabetically. Most entries are a single paragraph long and focus on architectural features: Holy Fathers Russian Orthodox Church is a "Faberg Easter egg of an architectural treat," while the Salvation Army headquarters on West 14th Street resembles "a medieval citadel" and the design of the Park East Synagogue is "almost hallucinatory" in its grandiosity. Several New York landmarks warrant page-long historical entries, including Saint Patrick's Cathedral ("the image of the Roman Catholic Church in America"), Riverside Church, Shearith Israel, Abyssinian Baptist, Brick Presbyterian, Grace Church and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. Throughout, the book is filled with fascinating lore; the New York Buddhist Church on Riverside Drive, for example, contains a 15-foot bronze statue that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. There are interesting mentions of the re-use of old buildings by other denominations or even other religions a Dutch Reformed church is now home to a Chinese Presbyterian congregation; Bulgarian Orthodox Christians meet in a church that was once home to Lutherans and then Catholics; and the Sung Tak Buddhist Association occupies a former synagogue building on the Lower East Side. Overall, this is an outstanding handbook on religion in Manhattan.
