The 15 Prettiest Churches in Brooklyn
One of Brooklyn’s many sobriquets is “The City of Churches”; do a Google Maps search for “brooklyn churches” and the borough comes back looking like it’s got the chicken pox it’s so covered in red dots. Many of these are small storefront churches and basement worship spaces, places where the faithful convene to pray together. But those of us who lost our religion long ago prefer the mammoth stone testaments to god’s glory that were long ago built all across Brooklyn, from Williamsburg to Sheepshead Bay. Here’re a bunch of our favorites. [photo]
15. Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Red Hook
Something about that old dirty stone is just so Brooklyn. But what this church really has to offer the passerby is its Gothic spire/clock tower. The red accents throughout are also a nice touch, especially considering this is Red Hook. [photo]
14. Our Lady of Angels, Bay Ridge
Between its church, its school, its offices and its parking lot, this enormous parish occupies almost an entire square city block. [page]
13. St. Mary’s Star of the Sea, South Brooklyn
This is where Al Capone married his wife! [photo]
12. Duryea Presbyterian Church, Prospect Heights
This place was even more impressive 100 years ago, when it still had the ornate top of its spire. [photo]
11. Sheepshead Bay United Methodist Church
This gingerbread-house-like church was recently in danger of losing its steeples, though the community was able to rally and raise the funds necessary to save them. [photo]
10. St. Francis Xavier, Park Slope
On the north end of Sixth Avenue stand many churches, our favorite of which is this one, whose gargantuan spire towers over the neighborhood. [photo]
9. Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew, Clinton Hill
This has been serving as a distribution center for Occupy Sandy relief efforts; it’s also a gorgeous arts-and-crafts-looking building. [photo]
8. St. Thomas Aquinas, Park Slope
I always liked this church, but then one day I came out of the train at Ninth Street and saw it had been painted red! And I was like, whoa! That shit’s hellzapoppin! [photo]
7. Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, Williamsburg
It gives McCarren that nice little touch of Tetris. [photo]
6. Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church, Flatbush
Giving Church Avenue its name, this very old church is charmingly juxtaposed today against the hustle and bustle of contemporary Flatbush Avenue. Also, as our Kristin Iversen said, “I like any church with an old-timey graveyard next to it.” [photo]
5. New Utrecht Reformed Church, Bensonhurst
While we’re obviously fond of Catholic church-palaces, we also like their opposite, like this charmingly simple Protestant alternative. [photo]
4. St. Barbara’s, Bushwick
Speaking of palaces, this place looks less like a church than a monarch’s residence. It also looks like it’s made of sugar. [photo]
3. St. Ann & Holy Trinity, Brooklyn Heights
I mean, what can you even say about a building like this? Amazing. [photo]
2. Emmanuel Baptist Church, Clinton Hill
Look at this place! I love that giant wall of a front facade.
1. Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sunset Park
It’s difficult to convey in a mere photograph the enormity of this building, but it’s like unfathomably enormous and beautiful. [photo]
Follow Henry Stewart on Twitter @henrycstewart
