Natalia Sishodia shares a brief history of St. Paul's Chapel, Manhattan
Built in 1766, St. Paul's Chapel is Manhattan's oldest surviving church building, and—upon completion—was the tallest building in New York City
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 6, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Nicknamed 'The Little Chapel That Stood,' St. Paul's survived the Great Fire of New York in 1776, which destroyed 493 other structures, and remains the oldest public building in continuous use in the city. The 252-year-old chapel, which is located opposite the World Trade Center site, survived the September 11, 2001 attack on the Lower Manhattan complex without even a broken window, according to New York City real estate broker Natalia Sishodia1.St. Paul's Chapel is an integral part of the Parish of Trinity Church Wall Street, with which Natalia Sishodia2 is involved. A growing and inclusive Episcopal parish, Trinity Church is guided by six core values. These, Sishodia explains, are faith, integrity, inclusiveness, compassion, social justice, and stewardship.
St. Paul's Chapel itself is home to the Brown Bag Lunch Ministry, an initiative established by Trinity Church, and for which Natalia Sishodia is a regular volunteer. She and fellow members of Trinity's congregation, alongside other local volunteers, pack and distribute what the church calls 'brown bag lunches' in an effort to combat food insecurity in the Lower Manhattan area and across wider New York City.
Considered one of the finest examples of Late Georgian architecture in the United States, St. Paul's Chapel has hosted many influential worshipers during its history, including George Washington, William IV of the United Kingdom, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison.
Recognized as a National Historic Landmark since 1960, the building most recently underwent restoration work starting in 2013. Restoration work was also carried out on the chapel's churchyard, which is considered something of a pastoral oasis by many in busy Downtown Manhattan, according to Natalia Sishodia.
As a result of the restorative work undertaken at St. Paul's, 'The Little Chapel That Stood' and its churchyard received a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy in 2016.
St. Paul's contains several important monuments and memorials, including one to Richard Montgomery sculpted by Jean-Jacques Caffieri shortly after the chapel was completed. George Washington's original pew from his time spent worshiping at St. Paul's also remains. The chapel is also home to a Neo-Baroque sculpture designed by Pierre L'Enfant, a celebrated military engineer responsible for creating the basic plan for Washington, D.C. known today as the 'L'Enfant Plan.'
Fourteen original cut-glass chandeliers still hang in the nave and the galleries – a testament to the continued love and care afforded to St. Paul's Chapel throughout its two-and-a-half-century life, says Natalia Sishodia.
To learn more about the Brown Bag Lunch Ministry at St. Paul's Chapel, please visit https://www.trinitywallstreet.org/social-action/brown-bag.
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1 https://www.newswire.com/news/natalia-sishodia-pledges-support-for-save-the-children-20394129
2 https://www.newswire.com/news/natalia-sishodia-joins-team-of-volunteers-at-lower-manhattan-emergency-20492844