Saturday, August 1, 2009

Day 55, New York City, USA

Wow, both the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Centre were certainly breathtaking and as we turn around we are greeted by Bee( http://www.postcrossing.com/user/domino) who has insisted that we accompany her to St. Patrick's Cathedral, a decorated Neo-Gothic-style Catholic cathedral church.

It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese o
f New York, and a parish church, It faces Rockefeller Center.The cathedral and associated buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
There are some really impressive features about this beautiful church:


The cathedral is built of white or tan marble quarried in New York and Massachusetts and can accommodate 2,200 people.
The spires rise 330 feet (100 m) from street level.

The windows were made by artists in Chartres, Birmingham and Boston. .
The St. Michael and St. Louis altar was designed by Tiffany & Co.. The St. Elizabeth altar was designed by Paolo Medici of Rome.
The St. John Baptist de la Salle altar remains one of the few original side chapel altars commemorating the patron saint of catechists and teachers.
The cathedral's Stations of the Cross won a prize for artistry a
t the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
The pietà is three times larger than Michelangelo's Pietà. It was sculpted by Araldo Perugi, who immigrated from Carrara, Italy.
A bust of Pope John Paul II is located in the rear of the cathedral, commemorating his visit to the city in 1979.
The roof is made from slate from Monson, Maine.

And then we met Carol( http://www.postcrossing.com/user/Cassysj) who was en route to the James A. Farley Building, the main post office building in New York City, to post her postcrossing cards of course!!

Built in 1912, the building is famous for bearing the inscription:
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
The Farley Post Office once held the distinction of being the only Post Office in New York City open to the public 24 hours 7 days a week but in 2009 due to the economic situation its windows close at 10 PM:-(

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