|
First Presbyterian Church in Sag Harbor, New York, also known as Old Whaler's Church, is a historic and architecturally notable Presbyterian church built in 1844 in the Egyptian Revival style. The church is Sag Harbor's "most distinguished landmark."〔Starin, Dennis (June 4, 1972). ''Exploring Legendary Sag Harbor; The Legend of Sag Harbor''. The New York Times〕 Town boosters call the facade "the most important (surviving) example of Egyptian revival style in the United States,"〔''First Presbyterian Church Historic Brochure'', 2005.〕 and "the best example of the Egyptian Revival style in the U.S. today.〔''Self-Guided Walking Tour of Sag Harbor''. Published by the Sag Harbor Historical Society.〕 The church was designed by Minard Lafever in an Egyptian Revival style that includes Greek Revival elements. Its original steeple, 185 feet high, was destroyed by the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.〔Peterson, Oliver (June 13, 2007). ''Push is on to rebuild church steeple''. East Hampton Press.〕 Although many lament the loss, architectural historian Richard Carrot believes that the removal of the steeple was "successful" in that it left "a more 'Egyptian' building."〔Carrott, Richard G. (1978). ''The Egyptian Revival: Its Sources, Monuments and Meaning, 1808-1858''. University of California Press, Berkeley, p. 78, n. 27.〕 The church is located at 44 Union Street, within the Sag Harbor Village District, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1994.〔 It is the only such national historic landmark in Sag Harbor.〔 ==Architecture== The church's tripartite facade evokes the massive trapezoidal pylons of Egyptian temples. The deep cornice is crested with a crenelation of blubber spades.〔''AIA Architectural Guide to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island''. Published by the American Institute of Architects, Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities. Courier Dover Publications, 1992. Building #207.〕 The minister's dedicatory sermon made clear that the congregation's intention in erecting an Egyptian style building was to symbolize Solomon's Temple.〔Hamlin, Talbot (May 1952). ''The Rise of Eclecticism in New York''. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 3-8.〕〔Landy, Jacob (1970). ''The Architecture of Minard Lafever''. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 230, 287.〕 The foyer features trapezoidal Egyptian Revival doors. The original bell is preserved in the narthex.〔 It was taken out and rung for the building's 100th anniversary in 1944,〔''Church Bell Ends 6 Years' Silence; Whalers Church Celebrates 100th Anniversary at Sag Harbor With Pageant''. The New York Times, August 7, 1944.〕 The church also celebrated the anniversary of the building by putting on a grand historical pageant in the costumes of the 1840s. Appropriately, with many local boys stationed overseas, they sang a song known to have been sung when many local men left for the California gold fields in 1849: "Star of Peace to Wanderers Weary."〔 The service was broadcast over the Voice of America as an example of the Four Freedoms.〔''Old Whalers' Church Seeking Steeple Fund''. The New York Times, January 20, 1952.〕 The interior of the sanctuary, however, is entirely in ornate Greek Revival style.〔 It is spacious, with a capacity to seat 800. The pulpit is framed by a pair of pilasters and a pair of Corinthian columns that rise over 50 feet to a coffered ceiling. Trompe-l'œil behind the pulpit gives the impression of a curved wall. The old-fashioned box pews have Cuban mahogany railings. Many have hand-engraved, 19th century silver nameplates on the doors. Fluted columns support galleries on each side of the sanctuary.〔 The very fine coffered ceiling is supported from a central beam, eliminating the need for supporting columns. It is edged with egg-and-dart molding.〔 A fence along Union Street is built with Egyptian obelisk-shaped fence posts. It is a modern copy of the original fence, removed in the 1880s.〔 The fence was an important part of Lafever's original plan to replicate Solomon's Temple in Egyptian style. The plan of the Temple calls for a forecourt, to precede two great pillars named Boaz and Jachin before the worshipers passed into the sanctuary. The fence was supposed to mark out the forecourt, and the doorway is framed by two enormous pylons representing Boaz and Jachin.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Old Whaler's Church (Sag Harbor)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|