The Angel Orensanz Foundation

The Angel Orensanz Foundation stands as the oldest surviving building in New York City constructed specifically as a synagogue. Built in 1849, this neo-Gothic structure was designed by Berlin-born architect Alexander Saeltzer, who drew direct inspiration from the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. When it first opened, it was the largest synagogue in the entire United States, with enough space to accommodate fifteen hundred worshippers. The original design was a bold statement of the nineteenth-century Jewish Reform movement, famously incorporating an organ and a pulpit that faced the congregation, both of which were progressive features for a house of worship at the time.