Angel Orensanz Foundation - just discovered this hidden gem in the Lower East Side yesterday and had to blog about it because it just so freakin’ beautiful. It’s part event space, performance venue, art gallery, and museum all mixed into one. While the foundation opened in the 1990, the original building was constructed in 1849, as a synagogue, making it the oldest surviving synagogue in New York.
It’s built in Gothic Revival style architecture, with lots of flying buttresses, stained glass windows, and a high vaulted ceiling. The building’s main interior is modeled after the Notre-Dame Cathedral while the sanctuary is supposed to initiate the Sistine Chapel. There’s just something so inherently gorgeous about this space - almost that of an eerie beauty with an air of mystery that you can’t quite place at first. I would say maybe even a little spooky or haunting, but in a good way.
The foundation is open 7 days a week from 11 am to 6 pm as a public space, so I heartily recommend visiting it in person :D
