HISTORIC BUILDINGS

1.St. Paul’s Chapel

Completed in 1766, this church has a glorious Georgian interior lit by Waterford Crystal chandeliers. The pew where George Washington prayed after his inauguration as President has been preserved (for further details see St. Paul’s Chapel).

2.City Hall

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This Georgian building (1803–12) with French Renaissance influences is one of New York’s finest. The interior features a rotunda circled by ten Corinthian columns, opening to twin spiral marble staircases (for further details see City Hall).

Civic Fame statue, top of City Hall

3.Trinity Church

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This lovely, square-towered church, built 1839–46 (for further details see Trinity Church), has bronze doors designed by Richard Morris Hunt. The spire, once the tallest structure in Manhattan, is now dwarfed by Wall Street towers. Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton are buried here.

4.St. Patrick’s Cathedral

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James Renwick, Jr. designed America’s largest Catholic cathedral (opened in 1879) in French Gothic style with twin 330-ft (100-m) towers. The interior has side altars dedicated to saints and holy figures, chapels, and stained-glass windows (for further details see St. Patrick’s Cathedral).

Interior of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

5.Carnegie Hall

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Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie financed the city’s first great concert hall, built in 1891. Major renovation in 1996 restored the wonderful interior bronze balconies and ornamental plaster, and a museum was added. The corridors of the hall are lined with memorabilia of the great artists who have performed here (for further details see Carnegie Hall).

6.Cathedral of St. John the Divine

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The world’s largest cathedral was begun in 1892 and is still a work in progress. The part-Romanesque, part-Gothic building is impressive for its stonework, enormous nave, bay altar windows, and rose window. The seat of New York’s episcopal archdiocese, the church is the scene of many avant-garde musical and theatrical events (for further details see Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine).

7.New York Stock Exchange

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Opened in 1903, the facade of this 17-story edifice is appropriately monumental for the building at the center of the US economy. The figures on the pediment represent the “sources of American prosperity.” “Black Thursday,” the start of the Great Depression, began here in 1929 (for further details see New York Stock Exchange).

8.US Custom House

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One of the city’s best Neo-Classical buildings, this eight-story structure, built in 1907, features an elaborate mansard roof and fine sculptures, including four by Daniel Chester French. A 1927 nautical mural by Reginald Marsh adorns the huge, oval rotunda (for further details see US Custom House).

9.New York Public Library

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This white marble, 1911 Beaux Arts edifice is magnificent both inside and out. Imposing stairways, terraces, and fountains inspire awe, while reading rooms invite repose. Events and lectures are frequently held here (for further details see New York Public Library).

10.Grand Central Terminal

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This 1913 public facility is remarkable for its beauty; the main concourse is suffused with natural light and the vaulted ceiling is decorated with myriad twinkling constellations (for further details see Grand Central Terminal).