The Best Churches and Cathedrals in New York

Arguably every bit as much a Big Apple icon as Lady Liberty and the Empire State Building, St Patrick's Cathedral is locked in an eternal Fifth Avenue face-off with its neighbor, the towering Rockefeller Center. Take in splendid aerial views of this neo-gothic marvel from the observation platform at the Top of the Rock before descending to street level to explore the hallowed halls of this great house of god – the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States, in fact.

The cathedral’s soaring twin spires, impressive bronze doors, intricate stained-glass windows and decorative marble facades cut quite an anachronistic dash among all that gleaming Midtown glass, steel and concrete, and the views inside are no less gasp-inducing. Ogle the kaleidoscopic rose window – assuming you can tear your eyes from the 9,000-pipe organ that sits directly beneath it. Check out the Stations of the Cross sculpted in the side aisles and enjoy a moment of quiet reflection in one of the many ornate side chapels.

Don’t miss:

• Main entrance. As if the neo-gothic flourishes of the 330-foot spires flanking the entrance weren’t eye candy enough, there's also a pair of bronze doors weighing a colossal 9,200lbs each, both adorned with several saintly statues.
• The rose window. Twenty-six feet across, this stained-glass beauty casts heavenly blue light across the cathedral’s gothic arches and marble columns. 
• La Pietà. Votive candles light the way to a 1906 Pietà statue by William Ordway Partridge that’s three times the size of Michelangelo’s Pietà at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City.

Top tip: admission to Top of the Rock, plus a guided tour of St Patrick’s Cathedral and dozens more New York attractions is included with the New York Pass®. The pass could save you up to 50% on admission to 100+ New York attractions, activities and tours. To find out more and buy yours, click here.

Set at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway, Trinity Church has roots that go all the way back to the late 17th Century, many decades before the New York Stock Exchange was established or the first Broadway musical hit town. Its current gothic-revival building dates to 1846 and stands as a spiritual relic of old New York amid the grind and hustle of the modern financial district, where bankers and brokers worship daily at the altar of capitalism.

A peaceful churchyard surrounds the church, allowing its eye-catching spire space to soar among the surrounding skyscrapers.

Don’t miss:

• Intricate interiors. Make time for quiet meditation amid the hand-carved woodwork and stained-glass windows that define the interior, including many features that date back to the mid-1800s.
• The bells! The bells! Listen out for the melodic chime of Trinity’s 23 bells as they peal out across Lower Manhattan on Sundays.
• The churchyard. Explore the cloistered burial ground, where permanent residents include American pioneers Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton as well as, somewhat mysteriously, the grave of one Charlotte Temple, fictional heroine of Susanna Rowson’s best-selling 1794 novel.

There’s a guided walking tour of Wall Street included with the New York Pass®.

Size matters. With a whopping 121,000 sq ft of floor space, the Cathedral of St John the Divine (or plain St John to its pals) is one of the largest Anglican cathedrals on the planet. Step inside this Morningside Heights titan to get a sense of the scale of the place, with its vast vestibule, soaring stone portals and a nave that seems to disappear up towards heaven itself.

Despite over a century of construction, this mighty cathedral remains an unfinished masterpiece of romanesque and gothic revival architecture, with features including the towers failing (thus far) to reach their full potential.

Don’t miss:

• The nave. So long is the cathedral’s nave that you could lie the Statue of Liberty down inside with room to spare.
• The Peace Fountain. Set in the cathedral grounds, sculptor Greg Wyatt’s whimsical 40-foot (waterless) fountain depicts the eternal battle between good and evil via mythical creatures, the archangel Michael and the decapitated head of Satan. Charming.
• Major events. Popular public events in St John’s calendar include December’s Festival of Lessons and Carols and the Blessing of the Animals at the Feast of St Francis of Assisi in October – all creatures great and small are welcome.

Tucked away in the NoHo neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, the oft-overlooked Grace Church is a Gothic Revival confection par excellence, all intricate crenellations and frilly pinnacles on the outside, and a wonderland of technicolor stained glass, gleaming marble and carved oak on the inside. The church’s serene atmosphere is manna for those in search of respite from the city streets, and there’s plenty to look at while you’re there, too. Check out the marble bust and stained-glass window dedicated to James Renwick Jr, the church’s architect, and look out too for the memorial to the Titanic passenger (and local parishioner) who selflessly gave up her lifeboat seat to a woman with kids back home.

Don’t miss:

• The baptistery. A fine example, complete with intricately carved marble base and ornamental oak canopy.
• Organ recitals. Catch the 7,466-pipe organ in its pomp at one of the church’s regular – and utterly ethereal – recitals.

Pre-dating its namesake successor by a little over 40 years, Old St Patrick’s was New York’s OG catholic cathedral and can be found in the heart of what is now Chinatown. The church was designed by architect Joseph-François Mangin (also responsible for New York City Hall, fact fans) and built between 1809 and 1815 in that ol’ familiar gothic revival style. Step inside to admire the grand interiors, complete with 19th-century pipe organ, ribbed vaults and imposing high altar.

Don’t miss:

• The organ in action. Designated as an instrument of "exceptional historical merit, worthy of preservation" by the Organ Historical Society, the historic pipe organ, built by Henry Erben in the 1860s, is still used for Sunday services.
• The catacombs. Perhaps the main draw of Old St Pat’s are the atmospheric catacombs that lie beneath the church. Join a guided candlelit tour to discover the stories of those interred there, including Congressman John Kelly, Countess Annie Leary and John Connolly, the first resident Bishop of New York.

Admission to several New York churches and cathedrals is included with the New York Pass®, alongside top attractions including the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Empire State Building Observatory and MoMA. Click the buttons below to find out more and choose your pass…