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The Lisanti Chapel Dr. Joseph Sciorra of Academic and Cultural Programs successfully nominated the Lisanti Chapel, located at 740 East 215th Street between Holland and Barnes Avenues in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx to the New York State (September 7, 2001) and National Registers of Historic Places (January 11, 2001). The private chapel was built on the property of Francesco Lisanti, a baker and peddler, who immigrated from Basilicata in 1905 and used by the Lisanti family and the surrounding Italian community up until the early 1970s. Below is Dr. Sciorra’s “Statement of Significance” that accompanied the nomination: The Lisanti Chapel (1905) is the only known extant free-standing private chapel built by an Italian immigrant in New York City, and possibly the country. The chapel, with its rough-hewn granite exterior and open bell tower topped by a metal filigree cross, is a rare example of Italian American vernacular religious architecture in the United States. The interior is a testimony to immigrant artisan skills and decorative work, seen in the wood lattice altar screen, the altar’s tiled floor, the faux marble, and the original paintings of religious scenes. Commissioned by an immigrant baker and peddler, the chapel was once the spiritual center for the Lisanti family’s celebration of sacramental rites of passage, including baptisms, weddings, and wakes. In addition to serving the family’s spiritual needs, the chapel was the also a significant religious and cultural landmark for the neighborhood’s once large Italian community. Local Roman Catholic clergy celebrated and neighborhood residents attended weekly and calendrical mass at the chapel, especially in the early years as the neighborhood “national” parish sought to establish itself. The chapel also served the community at large as a point of reference for various public processions in honor of the Virgin Mary and Roman Catholic saints. Uncovered historical documents indicate that the building’s creation resulted from the complex dynamics and tensions existing between the local clergy and the Italian Catholics, a phenomenon that was not uncommon as the Roman Catholic Church attempted to minister to the newly arrived immigrants. The chapel is an indigenous solution to the difficulties and precariousness Italian immigrant Catholics experienced in turn of the century New York. Architecturally significant and aesthetically moving, the Lisanti chapel is a direct link to the world of immigrant religious and social life made manifest by Italian American labor and devotion. Come to the chapel at our June 6, 2002 event. 
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