Overview

From modest chapels to majestic cathedrals, and historic synagogues to modern mosques and Buddhist temples: this photo-filled, pocket-size guidebook presents 1,079 houses of worship in Manhattan and lays to rest the common perception that skyscrapers, bridges, and parks are the only defining moments in the architectural history of New York City. With his exhaustive research of the city's religious buildings, David W. Dunlap has revealed (and at times unearthed) an urban history that reinforces New York as a truly vibrant center of community and cultural diversity. Published in conjunction with a New-York Historical Society exhibition, From Abyssinian to Zion is a sometimes quirky, always intriguing journey of discovery for tourists as well as native New Yorkers. Which popular pizzeria occupies the site of the cradle of the Christian and Missionary Alliance movement, the Gospel Tabernacle? And where can you find the only house of worship in Manhattan built during the reign of Caesar Augustus? Arranged alphabetically, this handy guide chronicles both extant and historical structures and includes ⁊ 650 original photographs and 250 photographs from rarely seen archives ⁊ 24 detailed neighborhood maps, pinpointing the location of each building ⁊ concise listings, with histories of the congregations, descriptions of architecture, and accounts of prominent priests, ministers, rabbis, imams, and leading personalities in many of the congregations

Full Product Details

9780231125437

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Reviews

With 899 photographs and 24 maps, this encyclopedia of congregations and religious buildings in Manhattan is an indispensable resource for anyone who is interested in religion and architecture in the city... [A]n outstanding handbook on religion in Manhattan. -- Publishers Weekly The simple, poignant images in From Abyssinian to Zion... reveal a Gotham rife with sacred tradition. -- Time Out New York well-researched and profusely illustrated -- Black and White Magazine

With 899 photographs and 24 maps, this encyclopedia of congregations and religious buildings in Manhattan is an indispensable resource for anyone who is interested in religion and architecture in the city... [A]n outstanding handbook on religion in Manhattan. Publishers Weekly The simple, poignant images in From Abyssinian to Zion... reveal a Gotham rife with sacred tradition. Time Out New York well-researched and profusely illustrated Black and White Magazine

From the foreword by Paul Goldberger David Dunlap has proven more effectively than even Henry Codman Potter, Stephen S. Wise and Reverend Ike ever managed to do that New York is not a godless city. Each of these people held sway over one house of worship; Dunlap gives us more than a thousand, and in so doing he makes it clear that religious buildings are as much a part of the fabric of New York as brownstones. [Dunlap] has documented a wide swath of New York's social, cultural, and architectural history by viewing it through the lens of a single building type. The book is organized in the form of an encyclopedia with alphabetical entries of churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques both past and present. The effect of reading From Abyssinian to Zion is to feel as if you have experienced both the best aspects of a guidebook, since Dunlap whisks you all around Manhattan, and many of the most appealing qualities of a history, since he moves back and forth easily across time.

Author Information

David W. Dunlap covers architecture and design, real-estate development, landmarks, and urban history for the New York Times. He is the author and photographer of On Broadway: A Journey Uptown Over Time, which won a Citation of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects. He is also the co-author and phtogrpaher of Glory in Gotham: Manhattan's Houses of Worship and the photographer of The City Observed: New York.

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