So many dates feature prominently during a walk of the church and property of Trinity Episcopal Church in Saugerties, N.Y. A large Bible from 1857, with delicate pages, is behind the church pulpit. A lectern contains four intricately carved wooden images of the evangelists such as St. Mark as a wooden lion and John as […]
Entries Tagged as 'spiritual places'
Trinity Episcopal’s Storied History
August 31st, 2022 · 4 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Tags: architecture·art·historic preservation·Hudson Valley·spiritual places
Sacred Sites, Priceless Opportunities
May 18th, 2019 · 14 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Amid the bustling Lower East Side, a place today with a millennial scene, gleaming glass buildings, and expensive cafes, the old remains, and in fact, finds ways to renew itself. The 132-year-old Eldridge Street Synagogue sits unpretentious in its presence. The structure is strong and commanding in a gentle way, inviting a long look and […]
Tags: architecture·historic preservation·new york·spiritual places
Sacred Sites: Spring’s Rite of Reverence
May 5th, 2018 · No Comments · Beyond Gotham
Tomorrow is the second day of the annual Sacred Sites Open House throughout New York State. From the 1842 Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church on eastern Long Island to the 1905 First Baptist Church of Niagara Falls at the northwest tip of New York, dozens of Sacred Sites are open to the public this weekend. More than […]
Tags: architecture·historic preservation·new york·spiritual places
A Newburgh Church Embodies Resilience
August 26th, 2016 · No Comments · Beyond Gotham
In the center of Newburgh is the oldest church building in the city. In good times and bad, particularly through the turmoil of the 1960s and the demolition of more than a thousand buildings in the city for so-called urban renewal in the early 1970s, St. George’s Episcopal Church on Grand Street has remained steadfast. […]
Tags: architecture·historic preservation·Hudson Valley·spiritual places·stone
Sacred Sites Open for Exploration
May 20th, 2016 · 2 Comments · Explore New York
New York’s sacred places of worship possess countless life stories and historical chapters as well as inspiring and magnificent art, architecture, and design. Jacob Riis, the social reformer and photographer whose works brought to light the suffering of the poor living in New York City tenements, was one of the early parishioners of the Church […]
Tags: architecture·historic preservation·landmarks·new york·spiritual places
The Grief and Questions Over St. Agatha’s
February 27th, 2016 · 35 Comments · Beyond Gotham
As they dismantle the stones, roof, and interior of the former St. Agatha Roman Catholic Church, the demolition crew is taking apart memories, history, art, and part of a community’s fabric, to be replaced by a nondescript pharmacy in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. At the corner of Spring Avenue and Fifth Street in the downtown, the […]
The Tree as Artist and Art Form
December 30th, 2015 · 8 Comments · Explore New York
To Paul Klee, a tree embodied the creative process. In a public lecture, the artist likened the artist to a tree. The artist is deeply rooted in the world, while the artist’s work is similar to the tree’s crown, as the book Art and Phenomenology explains. “Standing at his appointed place, at the trunk of […]
Walking As Solace and Joy
December 12th, 2011 · 16 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Walking has saved my life and restored my serenity more times than I can count. When times have come that throw off life’s balance and inner peace, I know I have not walked enough. Walking has always been part of my life’s journey, a way to constantly look around at the world each day, no […]
Redeemer Lutheran’s Staying Power
October 5th, 2011 · 16 Comments · Beyond Gotham
When we behold a beautiful historic house of worship, we may well find a sturdy and durable congregation that has also withstood the test of time. Both materials and people become a study in resilience. Redeemer Lutheran Church in Kingston is a sweet and brightly warm church set within the Rondout neighborhood of this Hudson […]
Tags: architecture·art·historic preservation·Hudson Valley·spiritual places·stone
9/11: Still-Searing Images
September 16th, 2011 · 3 Comments · Explore New York
Every early September a day comes that is just beautiful – particularly sunny, bright, and gently warm. On such days, I’m sure many feel it again as clearly as if it was yesterday. That Tuesday 10 years ago, the morning was clear and warm, with radiant sunshine, the kind that makes you cup your eyes […]
Tags: landmarks·manhattan·meditations·new york·spiritual places
Encountering the “Three-Legged Buddha”
August 19th, 2010 · 11 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Like the Tibetan Buddhist tradition that it evokes, Zhang Huan’s “Three-Legged Buddha” is an artwork of mystery and complexity. It captures life, death, and rebirth. The enormous sculpture is strong and muscular, yet fragile; seemingly dominated yet defiant. Is the key figure within it collapsing, or is it arising? These are the qualities and questions […]
Talking: Architecture and Spirituality
February 17th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Be a Mindful Activist, Beyond Gotham
To Sara Sweeney, bricks, concrete, and glass are expressions of our soul. Each building, in the architect’s view, is a statement of us, our relationship to each other, and our connection, or disconnection, with the Earth. A registered architect, Sweeney has had a 19-year career reflecting her passion and commitment to sustainable design, green building […]
Tags: architecture·green energy·international·spiritual places
Terra Cotta Tales: Apostolic Church
November 20th, 2009 · 8 Comments · Explore New York
An angel, calm and serene, is playing an instrument, perhaps heralding an arrival. Indeed, those worshiping inside the church where the angel is on the front exterior wall were awaiting a coming – the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. They believed it was going to happen imminently. The years of the 19th century came and […]
Tags: architecture·historic preservation·landmarks·manhattan·midtown·spiritual places·terra cotta
The “Fairest” Land: The Lake District
September 28th, 2009 · 10 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Beautiful landscape calls us to dream and to wander, to take paths unknown. In it, we fix our eyes both on the distant horizons and on the tiniest details at our side. It reaches into our souls, rewards and soothes us. It is the Earth’s embrace. Standing in an open field in England’s Lake District […]
Tags: England·historic preservation·international·nature·spiritual places·stone·trails
A Summer Walk at the Irish Memorial
July 10th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Explore New York
“Could it be possible that a landscape might have a deep friendship with you? That it could sense your presence and feel the care you extend towards it?” John O’Donohue Beauty: The Invisible Embrace If we are blessed with such kinship, then the Irish Hunger Memorial is a place of its embrace. This small. lush […]
Tags: landscape architecture·manhattan·meditations·nature·new york·spiritual places·stone
Springtime at the Irish Hunger Memorial
April 15th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Explore New York
New York City may seem like a curious place to go looking to see gorse, the small shrub that thrives in rural fields and along hillsides, its yellow flowers rippling across the countryside in spring. But there’s at least one sure place I’ve enjoyed the sight of it in New York – the Irish Hunger […]
Tags: landscape architecture·manhattan·nature·new york·spiritual places
Prayers and Peace at St. Francis
January 6th, 2009 · 8 Comments · Explore New York
Outside, it was a post-Christmas, rush-hour frenzy, throngs crowding near the revolving doors and the holiday windows of Macy’s or walking speedily to Penn Station. Inside St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in New York in the midst of all of this, you’d never know it. Two men were slowly and carefully placing flowers […]
Tags: architecture·art·cities·landmarks·manhattan·midtown·spiritual places·terra cotta
