Roberto Gonzalez
A magnificent structure
It only took two years (1911-1913) to build this magnificent structure on 5th Avenue. Designed in Gothic style with limestone and Kentucky sandstone without metal framing, the stunning interior contains wonders like the oak beamed ceiling, and decorations that seem almost pagan, celebrating the four seasons and the ancient Greek elements of earth, water, air and fire. Below, the shields of the Allied Nations mark a memorial to the victims of the Second World War, with names of the district's faithful who fought and died inscribed here. On the other side, another memorial lists the dead of the First World War.
The altar is said to be the largest in the world, standing 25m high and 12m wide. Made of stone in Dunville, Wisconsin, when illuminated, it magically seems to have been transformed to an ivory filigree. In it are represented such figures as Jesus, Mary and the Apostles, the Hebrew prophets and even President George Washington, the first British Prime Minister Gladstone and other devout Christians of history. A little weird, I admit ... but this is perhaps something typical in America. In a corner, we found a more recent memorial to those killed in the attack on the World Trade Center, made from stone brought directly from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem ... Anyway, a whole load of tributes and symbols in the middle of 5th Avenue.
Read more



+7