Treasures from the Crypt

Ongoing

The Treasury of the Cathedral is comprised of an array of ecclesiastical items given to the Cathedral over the past 125 years. It includes many precious items, ranging from a Mexican chalice from the mid-17thcentury, to a Restoration two-handled cup from 1660, to an alms basin given to the Cathedral by King George V. These rarely-seen objects are part of the physical and spiritual heritage of the Cathedral. They are included in worship services, baptisms, and investitures: sacred events that mark the passage of the liturgical year and moments of great personal and spiritual importance.

The donors of some of the objects on view include members of the royal family of England, as well as the descendants of Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch director-general of New Netherland from 1647 until 1664 when it was renamed New York. The pieces here tell a story of community: from the origins of the Anglican Church, through the founding of the City of New York, and the chartering of this Cathedral, intended as a house of prayer for all people.