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Angel Orensanz Center

Architect
Alexander Saeltzer
Year
1849
Style
Gothic Revival
City
Manhattan, NY
Angel Orensanz Center
Photo: This photo was taken by participant/team Three_Blind_Mice as part of the Commons:Wikis Take Manhattan project on October 4, 2008. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work to remix – to adapt the work Under the following conditions: attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0CC BY-SA 3.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 truetrue, CC BY-SA 3.0
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The Angel Orensanz Center occupies a Gothic Revival synagogue built in 1849 and designed by Alexander Saeltzer, making it the oldest surviving synagogue building in New York City. At the time of its construction it was the largest synagogue in the United States and one of the few built in the Gothic Revival style. A succession of congregations used the building as a synagogue until 1974, after which it passed through several owners before Spanish sculptor Angel Orensanz bought and restored it in 1986, converting it into an art gallery and performance space.

the building

A synagogue in Gothic dress. Built as a synagogue in a style usually reserved for churches, the building applied the pointed arches and verticality of Gothic Revival to a Jewish house of worship, a rare pairing that made it stand out among New York's mid-19th-century synagogues.

the style

Gothic Revival was an unusual choice for a synagogue in 1849, and the Angel Orensanz Center is one of the few built in that style, giving its Norfolk Street facade a churchlike silhouette unlike most of its contemporaries.

More on Gothic Revival

the architect

Alexander Saeltzer is documented as the architect of the 1849 building; the record here does not detail his broader career.

significance

It is designated a New York City Landmark and stands as the oldest surviving synagogue building in New York City and the fourth-oldest surviving synagogue building in the United States.

nearby

All 413 buildings in Manhattan