Description of the attraction
Trinity Episcopal Church at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway is one of the oldest in the United States. Its sharp spire with a gilded cross rises to 86 meters and looks very impressive even against the background of much higher skyscrapers. The history of the temple is unusual.
The modest first building of the Trinity Church was built on this very site in 1698. New York was then a small town, a significant part of whose income was provided by pirate ships mooring in the local harbor. The purchase of land for the church was approved by Governor Benjamin Fletcher, who received bribes from pirates. One of the filibusters, Captain William Kidd, even borrowed his ship's tackle for construction work.
During the Revolutionary War, New York became a base for British troops trying to suppress the colonial uprising. During the battles of 1776, Lower Manhattan burned down, the fire destroyed the church, and only St. Paul's chapel survived. It was there that the first President of the United States, George Washington, prayed after his inauguration in 1789.
In 1790, a new building was built on the site of the burned down one, which, however, could not withstand the heavy snowfalls of the winter of 1838-1839: the roof collapsed, the skeleton had to be demolished. The third building, the current one, was designed by British immigrant architect Richard Upjohn and was completed in 1846.
Trinity Church is a classic example of neo-gothic style. It was the tallest building in New York until 1890, when the New York World Building (owned by the famous publisher Joseph Pulitzer, demolished in 1955) took over the palm. The church's spire, with its shining cross, has been a beacon for ships entering New York Harbor for decades.
In 1976 the British Queen Elizabeth II visited the church. She was solemnly presented with 279 peppercorns. In 1697, the English king William III approved the charter of the church, according to which she was obliged to give the crown one pea of pepper per year as rent. The colonies who won independence forgot about it, and the church returned the debt.
On September 11, 2001, hundreds of people managed to hide in the church from the wreckage of the first collapsed WTC tower. Debris broke a huge plane tree, which for almost a century stood in the cemetery of St. Paul's Chapel (to the north of the temple). Sculptor Steve Tobin cast a copy of the tree roots from bronze - this sculpture is installed near the temple.
They enter the church through massive bronze doors (a gift from wealthy lawyer William Waldorf Astor). Scenes from the Old and New Testaments are depicted on the north and east doors, and scenes from the history of New York on the south. The interior is decorated with bright stained-glass windows, the most remarkable of them, with images of Jesus and the apostles - above the altar. The church has a small museum, which displays historical documents, including the very charter of King William III, according to which they paid with peppercorns.
