St. Patrick's Cathedral - New York City

St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan is across the street from Rockefeller Center on Fifth Avenue, between 50th and 51st Streets. It was dedicated in 1879 and the spires were added in 1888, making it the tallest structure in New York City and the second tallest in the United States. 

St. Patrick's in 1913, from Wikipedia. 

That fact is almost incomprehensible now as it is dwarfed by the surrounding buildings which detracts mightily from its majesty. However, it can hold 3,000 people, so it is very large, it just looks small compared to the skyscrapers that surround it. 

A spire pokes out, taken from Rockefeller Center.

About as good as you can get.

It is now very hard to get a good photograph of the whole building. 

The Diocese of New York was created in 1808 and made an Archdiocese  in 1850. What is now St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, which I recently did a post on, was the cathedral for the diocese and archdiocese until this St. Patrick's was completed in 1879. 

It has been visited by a number of popes, including Pope Francis in September 2015. 

Requiem Masses have been held at St. Patrick's for such notables as Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Vince Lombardi, Ed Sullivan and Robert F. Kennedy. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre, ages 23 and 19, were married in the adjoining rectory. 

We've visited several times, but have always had to deal with services while we were there. Most recently we witnessed part of a wedding. To be married or baptized there, you have to be a parishioner. 

There is some beautiful art inside, including statuary and stained glass. 

Elizabeth Ann Seton is the patron saint of Catholic schools and the first native-born American to be canonized. 

This Pieta, by William Ordway Partridge, is three times larger than the Pieta by Michelangelo. 

St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great.

Our Lady of Guadalupe above the Altar of the Sacred Heart. The painting was a gift by the Archbishop of Mexico in 1991. 

Our Lady of Czestochowa, Queen of Poland. 

Bronze doors, inspired by the doors in Florence. 

Architect James Renwick, Jr. presents the architectural plans to Archbishop Hughes, who decided to build the cathedral. 

St.John the Evangelist.