Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
- Architect
- Patrick Charles Keely
- Year
- 1852
- Style
- Gothic Revival
- City
- Albany, NY
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the mother church of the Diocese of Albany, built between 1848 and 1852 near the Mansion District to serve Albany's growing Catholic immigrant population. Designed by Irish American architect Patrick Keely, it was the first American Catholic cathedral built in the Neo-Gothic style, and it remains the second-oldest cathedral in New York State and the third-oldest Catholic cathedral in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
the building
Imported English glass. The cathedral retains its original stained glass windows, imported from England, along with award-winning Stations of the Cross statuary, furnishings that have survived from its 1852 completion.
Tallest building in Albany, once. When it was completed, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was the tallest building in Albany, a mark of how the diocese built to be seen over a city still low and modest in scale.
the style
Keely designed the cathedral as the first American Catholic cathedral in the Neo-Gothic architectural style, a distinction that places it at the start of that building tradition in the United States.
More on Gothic Revivalthe architect
Patrick Charles Keely, an Irish American architect, designed the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to serve Albany's growing Catholic immigrant population, completing it in 1852.
significance
The cathedral was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It has hosted cardinals and leaders of other faiths, including an archbishop of Canterbury, and in 1986 hosted the first-ever service of forgiveness between Catholics and Jews on Palm Sunday, an event commemorated by a sculpture outside.
nearby
- Erastus Corning Tower
- The Egg
- New York State Capitol
- St. Peter's Episcopal Church
- 48 Hudson Avenue
- Albany City Hall