Photography: Catholic Liturgical Arts Journal
If you thought the cost of living in New York was high, just wait till you see how much it costs to be buried there…
The Basilica of St Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan is opening its crypt to the public for the first time – selling a family vault in its catacombs for $7m.
Old St Patrick’s is the island’s only basilica. The Gothic Revival building – designed by Joseph-Francois Margin in 1815 – served as the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for New York until the current St Patrick’s Cathedral opened in 1879.
According to the New York Post, ‘the [Nolita] boneyard is beneath the Mulberry Street church, hidden behind tall wooden doors and 4-foot-thick stone walls’. That’s a prime Manhattan location.
Originally designated for the pious and wealthy, the 200-year-old catacombs are the eternal resting place of notables such as Abraham Lincoln’s advisor Thomas Eckert and the first bishop of new York John Connolly, who was interred there in 1825.
This crypt accommodates up to six people – working out at around $1.166m per person.
