Holy New York

In 1905 Francesco Lisanti, an Italian baker in the Bronx, built a private family chapel, which today reveals much about the challenges turn-of-the-century Italian immigrants faced and the creative solutions they devised to meet their spiritual needs. This place of worship served the Lisanti family as well as community members until the 1970s. Although many Roman Catholic churches in the United States were altered after the Second Vatican Council, the Lisanti chapel remains unchanged—and an unparalleled example of sacred vernacular architecture decorated with examples of once-popular Catholic iconography.