St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, New York
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Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, or Old St. Patrick's, is located at 260-264 Mulberry Street between Prince and Houston Streets in Manhattan, in the City of New York. It was the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York until the current Saint Patrick's Cathedral opened in 1879.
Construction on Old Saint Patrick's began in 1809, the cornerstone being laid on June 8 of that year. It was finished to a design by architect Joseph-Francois Mangin, who had also designed New York's City Hall, in just under six years, being dedicated May 14, 1815. The church measures 120 by 80 feet and the inner vault is 85 feet high. In 1866 the structure was gutted by fire, but though the new St. Patrick's was already under construction, it was restored under the direction of architect Henry Engelbert and reopened in 1868. Since 1879 it has been a parish church, the pastor residing in the old Bishop's House at 263 Mulberry. Today's multi-ethnic parish also includes Most Holy Crucifix church, serving the local community of Asian descent, late 20th century ethnic succession having put Old Saint Patrick's on the edge of Chinatown).
The main church also celebrates liturgies in English and Spanish. It was originally a focus of the St. Patrick's Day parade, which has moved uptown to pass the new Cathedral. The Ancient Order of Hibernians were headquartered across the street after anti-Irish rioters besieged the cathedral in 1835.
The Baptism scene in The Godfather was filmed at the old Cathedral, as was the scene in The Godfather, Part III in which Michael Corleone receives an honor from the church. Perhaps the most recent wide publicity for the church was its hosting the memorial service for John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1999.
