Catacombs by Candlelight tour goes underground below Manhattan basilica
The subterranean cemetery of New York City’s old Catholic cathedral is now open to the public.
Thomas Wilkinson removes his hat before entering the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Lower Manhattan. Beneath the arching, cast-iron beams and in front of the altar, he crosses himself and turns to the group he is leading on his Catacombs by Candlelight tour.
Wilkinson explains that the baptism scene in The Godfather was filmed here; Sofia Coppola was the baby. The group exits a side door at the front of the church and descends narrow stairs to the lower level. Wilkinson distributes electric tea lights before the wooden double doors that lead to the most anticipated part of the tour. A hush overcomes the group, and Wilkinson opens the doors.
Until June, the Old Cathedral’s catacombs—the city’s only subterranean cemetery with recesses for tombs—were not open to the public. But now visitors can take one of three daily tours with Tommy’s New York, Wilkinson’s company and the Old Cathedral’s exclusive tour partner. Wilkinson, 47, a lifelong Staten Islander and parishioner, tells little-known stories of the Old Cathedral, which was the center of Catholic New York before St. Patrick’s Cathedral was built uptown.
