Spanish Sites in NYC

Self Guided Tour

About

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Queen Sofia Spanish Institution has put together a tour of various Spanish Sites in NYC.

Created by

Queen Sofia Spanish Institute

Timeline

1200

1515

1654

1683

1703

1754

1760

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1800

1830+ 1

1868

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1935

1938

1954

1991

2021

Tour Stops

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Grand Central Terminal - Guastavino Tilework at the Oyster Bar and Whispering Gallery

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89 E 42nd St, New York

Grand Central Terminal contains one of the most recognizable examples of the work of Rafael Guastavino, the Spanish-born architect and builder whose company transformed American architecture through his use of structural tile vaulting.

Born in Valencia and trained in Barcelona, Guastavino emigrated to the United States in 1881. Together with his son, Rafael Guastavino Jr., he developed the Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company, adapting a traditional Mediterranean system of thin-tile vaulting for large public buildings across the United States.

At Grand Central, Guastavino tilework is especially visible in the Oyster Bar, which opened shortly after the terminal in 1913. Its vaulted ceilings use interlocking tiles arranged in herringbone patterns, creating one of the best-known Guastavino interiors in New York. The adjacent passageway is also famous as the Whispering Gallery, where the curved tiled vaults allow sound to travel diagonally from one corner to another.

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1871 - Grand Central Terminal - With the advent of electricity to power trains, a new station was needed to accommodate the additional traffic. William L Wilgus, VP and Chief Engineer of NY Central & Hudson River held a competition between 4 firms including McKim Mead & White and Reed & Stem (relatively unknown but had done a lot of railroad terminals; Wilgus was married to Reed`s sister May). They were made to associate with Warren & Wetmore possibly because Whitney Warren was the cousin of William K Vanderbilt. After Reed died in 1909, there were a few design changes and Whitney Warren became the architect. The final design produced 44 platforms on two levels making it the largest train station in the world.It became the hub of New York for decades. Movies were filmed there. Couples proposed under the great clock. It housed an art school, a library (which still exists) and even an apartment (which is now a bar). The Terminal fell into disrepair in the late 70's prompting multiple planning studies and proposals for its restoration. This finally happened in the late 90's and the terminal was lovingly restored and brought up to date. Retail was added in the former waiting rooms.

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1913 - Oyster Bar - A banquet was held the night before Grand Central Terminal opened for 100 people invited by the building's architects Warren and Wetmore. The subterranean space is noted for its white tiled Gustavino Vaults. The vaults have an unusual acoustic property in that they amplify sounds as a 'Whispering Gallery'.

Cathedral of St. John the Divine – Guastavino Dome

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Amsterdam Ave, New York

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine contains one of the most remarkable surviving works of the R. Guastavino Company in New York: the enormous tiled dome covering the Cathedral's crossing.

In 1909, Rafael Guastavino's company constructed the dome in only 15 weeks, using the company's characteristic system of thin interlocking tiles and without the need for scaffolding rising from the floor below. The structure was originally intended as a temporary roof while construction of the Cathedral continued, but it became a permanent and celebrated architectural feature.

The dome is especially significant because of its scale and engineering. The Cathedral describes it as one of the largest freestanding domes of its type, and the Guastavino tilework remains clearly visible from the crossing below.

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1892 - Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine - In a city of skyscrapers, the Cathedral impresses with sheer size. Its detailed façade towers over Amsterdam Avenue, and the building extends a full avenue block to Morningside Drive. Despite incomplete construction, it is the largest cathedral in the world, making it a global landmark. The Cathedral`s distinctive architecture is an equal claim to fame, and an important monument in the history of its city.

Admiral David Glasgow Farragut Monument

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4-28 Madison Square N, New York

The monument honors Admiral David Glasgow Farragut (1801–1870), the first admiral in the history of the United States Navy and one of the most prominent naval commanders of the American Civil War.

Farragut had a direct connection to Spain through his father, Jorge Farragut Mesquida, who was born on the island of Menorca, in 1755. Jorge Farragut emigrated to North America and served the American cause during the Revolutionary War, later settling in the United States David Farragut entered the U.S. Navy as a child and became nationally famous for his Civil War service, particularly his victory at the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, where he is attributed having said “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” After the war, he traveled extensively in Europe and visited Spain, including the Spanish island of Menorca, maintaining a connection with his family's Spanish origins.

The New York monument is also significant in the history of American public art. Renowned architect Stanford White designed the monument and Augustus Saint-Gaudens undertook the sculptural work. It was unveiled in 1881 and was Saint-Gaudens's first major public monument. The bronze figure depicts Farragut standing on the deck of a ship, reinforcing both his naval career and his place in American military history.

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1880 - Admiral David Glasgow Farragut - This monument to the Civil War admiral David Glasgow Farragut, who was hailed as a much-needed hero in the Union after seizing New Orleans in 1862 and who was famously quoted as saying, “Damn the Torpedoes!” at the Battle of Mobile Bay two years later, sits inside Madison Square, right about in the middle of the park’s north end. The statue was originally at the park’s northwest corner, facing Fifth Avenue. It was moved a few feet when Fifth Avenue was widened in 1909, and after the park was redesigned in 1934, the monument was moved to its present spot.

Spanish Memorial Plaque at the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument

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Fort Greene Park Willoughby Ave. &, Washington Park, Brooklyn, New York

The Spanish Memorial Plaque at Fort Greene Park commemorates the Spanish and Hispanic contribution to American independence and specifically honors 126 known Hispanic soldiers and sailors who died aboard British prison ships in Brooklyn during the American Revolution.

More than 11,500 prisoners died from disease, starvation, contaminated water, overcrowding, and other brutal conditions aboard British prison ships anchored in nearby Wallabout Bay. Their remains are memorialized by the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument.

The original Spanish plaque was presented by King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 1976, during the bicentennial of the United States, in memory of those from Spain who fought, suffered, and died for American independence. After the original deteriorated, a replacement was created by NYC Parks with support from Iberdrola, the Government of Spain, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute. The restored plaque was unveiled in 2021 and stands on the eastern side of the monument plaza.

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1908 - Prison Ship Martyrs Monument - Doric column surmounted by a bronze urn, on a terrace approached by 100 steps; eagles at corners of terrace; plaque and tablet.
Inscription: in the name of the spirits of the departed free / sacred to the Memory of that portion of american seamen, soldiers / on board the Prison ships of the british during the revolutionary / war at the Wall about. This is the cornerstone of the vault / which contains Their relics. Erected by the Tammany Society/of the Columbian Order of the City of New York. The ground for / which was bestowed By John Jackson, Nassau Island, season of/blossoms, year of Discovery, the 316th. Of the institution the 19th and of American Independence the 32nd, April the 6th, 1808.Jacob Vandervoort /John Jackson / Burdet Stryker / Isaacher Cozzens / Robert Townsend / Benjamin Watson / Samuel Cowdry / William And David Campbell - builder wall about committee.Tablet over entrance to tomb. Originally cornerstone of a vault In navy yard, containing bones of 11,000 patriots. Erected in Navy yard by Tammany Society.Fort Greene Park opened 1849 through efforts of Walt Whitman, Editor of Brooklyn Eagle. Originally called Raymond Park.

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2021 - Spanish Memorial Plaque at Fort Greene Park - The Spanish Memorial Plaque in Fort Greene Park commemorates the Spanish soldiers who fought, suffered, and died in support of American independence during the Revolutionary War. The original bronze plaque was presented by King Juan Carlos of Spain and dedicated in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebrations. It was later removed from its granite plinth because of its deteriorated condition and is now displayed in the park’s visitor center.A replacement bronze plaque, funded by the Spanish electrical company Iberdrola, was created to preserve the memorial’s message while better integrating with the historic landscape. Set into a natural stone boulder on the eastern side of the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument plaza, the new memorial was unveiled during Hispanic Heritage Month with support from NYC Parks, the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute, Iberdrola and Avangrid, and Spanish diplomatic representatives. The memorial highlights the longstanding historical ties between Spain and the United States and recognizes Spain’s contribution to the American struggle for independence.

Diego de Gardoqui Memorial Plaque at St. Peter’s Church

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22 Barclay St, New York

St. Peter’s Church is closely connected to Diego de Gardoqui, a Spanish merchant and Spain's first Plenipotentiary Minister (i.e. Ambassador) to the new United States who played a key role in the early relationship between Spain and the new American republic.

Before becoming a diplomat, Gardoqui helped coordinate Spanish financial and material support for the American revolutionary cause through his family business in Bilbao. After the war, he became King Charles III’s envoy to the United States, and he arrived in New York in 1785.

Gardoqui also played an important role in the establishment of St. Peter’s, New York City's first Catholic parish, and laid the cornerstone of the church in 1785.

On November 12, 2025, Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain unveiled a commemorative plaque at St. Peter's honoring Gardoqui, recognizing both his diplomatic role and his contribution to the establishment of the church.

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1785 - St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church - This Greek Revival granite church is the oldest Roman Catholic church in New York. Inside one can find the painting "The Crucifixion" by Jose Vallejo.

Site of Diego de Gardoqui’s Residence in New York

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PX3P+ Bowling Green, Broadway, New York

During his diplomatic mission in New York, Diego de Gardoqui lived at the southern end of Broadway, near Bowling Green, while New York served as the capital of the United States.

Gardoqui represented King Charles III and established relationships with leading figures of the new republic, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. His negotiations with U.S. Secretary for Foreign Affairs John Jay, addressed major issues between Spain and the young United States, including trade, territorial boundaries, and American navigation rights on the Mississippi River.

Contemporary accounts also describe Gardoqui decorating his Broadway residence spectacularly for George Washington's inauguration in 1789, including an illuminated display featuring thirteen stars representing the United States.

The historic building no longer survives.

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1760 - One Broadway

Federal Hall – Diego de Gardoqui and Washington’s Inauguration

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15 Pine St, New York

Federal Hall marks the site where George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States on April 30, 1789, when New York was the national capital.

Spain was prominently represented at this foundational event by Diego de Gardoqui, King Charles III's diplomatic representative to the United States. Gardoqui attended Washington's swearing-in as a guest of honor and, together with the French diplomatic representative, walked directly behind Washington in the inaugural procession.

The site therefore provides a tangible connection between Spain and one of the defining ceremonies in the creation of the American presidency.

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1703 - Federal Hall National Memorial - Overshadowed today by its towering neighbors, the Greek Revival temple stands on what the New Yorker's Eric Homberger called "sacred ground for the making of the American republic" —where George Washington was inaugurated, where the first Congress convened, and where the flesh, including what would become the Bill of Rights, was placed on the bare bones of the Constitution (a forty-five-hundred-word document that never mentions the word "democracy") —during the 531 days when New York City was the nation's first capital. Even before that, it was the site of John Peter Zenger's trial, which provided the foundation for press freedoms; the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, where a formal coalition of the colonies was first suggested; and the Congress of the Confederation, from 1785 to 1789.The building would first be repurposed as a customs house, which, as New York dominated the nation's maritime trade, would generate most of the federal government's revenue by the mid-nineteenth century. Then the building would be transformed into a fortified branch of the United States Treasury, whose impregnable vaults would guard the largest repository of gold in the world.Its triple service-in the names of democracy, commerce, and capitalism-elevate Federal Hall to an unrivaled role in shaping the city's heritage. It symbolizes, the New York Times said, "Americas turbulent political babyhood and financial manhood. Decades after the new president and the first Congress reached one agreement after another on the enduring structure of the federal government, the diarist and former New York City mayor Philip Hone delivered a toast to the old Federal Hall that evoked the site's synonymy with the grand bargain: "It witnessed the greatest contract ever made in Wall Street." The national government's decision to decamp from Philadelphia and Trenton to New York, at least for the time being, was enthusiastically welcomed by the city's Common Council, which generously agreed to accommodate the out-of-towners by remodeling City Hall at Wall and Broad Streets. (The site was aptly named: Wall Street was the northern perimeter of where the Dutch stockade stood until the end of the seventeenth century; Broad Street was wider than most because it originally accommodated a canal that connected to the East River).

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1789 - 1st Presidential Inauguration - George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States. He delivered his first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress, assembled in Federal Hall in the nation's new capital, New York City.

Hispanic Society Museum & Library

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613 W 155th St, New York

Founded in 1904 by Archer Milton Huntington, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library is one of the most prominents institutions in the United States dedicated to the art, literature, and cultures of Spain, Portugal and the broader Hispanic world.

Its collections include major works by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Zurbarán, and Joaquín Sorolla, together with sculpture, decorative arts, manuscripts, rare books, maps, photographs, and other materials documenting centuries of Spanish culture.

One of its most remarkable treasures is Joaquín Sorolla's monumental Vision of Spain, commissioned by Huntington. The series consists of fourteen large panels depicting the landscapes, people, clothing, and traditions of different regions of Spain and is Sorolla's most ambitious artistic achievement.

The Hispanic Society represents a seminal chapter in the history of the study, collecting, and presentation of Spanish culture in the United States.

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1928 - Hispanic Society Museum and Library - The Hispanic Society of America operates a museum and reference library for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain and Portugal and their former colonies in Latin America, the Spanish East Indies, and Portuguese India. Despite the name, it has never functioned as a learned society.The Hispanic Society of America is a free museum and reference library. In 2007 the Dia Art foundation began a collaboration with the Hispanic Society to hold temporary exhibitions there.

El Cid Monument at Audubon Terrace

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Broadway, New York

The monumental bronze equestrian sculpture El Cid Campeador, created by American sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, dominates the central terrace in front of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library.

El Cid, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, is a war hero of the Reconquista period of medieval Spanish history and literature. The sculpture presents him as an idealized mounted warrior and became an important visual symbol of the Hispanic Society.

Anna Hyatt Huntington married the Society's founder, Archer Huntington, in 1923. The first casting of her El Cid was presented to the city of Seville, while the first replica was installed at Audubon Terrace in 1927. Other Spanish figures represented as sculptural works in the central terrace include Boabdil, last king of Granada, and Don Quixote, further embedding Spanish historical and literary imagery into the architecture of Audubon Terrace.

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1907 - Audubon Terrace Historic District - This short row of eight Beaux Arts structures includes buildings by some of the most famous American architects of the early 20th century, including Stanford White, Cass Gilbert, and Charles Pratt Huntington.

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1927 - El Cid Campeador - The monumental equestrian sculpture El Cid Campeador dominates the central terrace in front of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library.El Cid, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, is a war hero of the Reconquista period of medieval Spanish history and literature. The sculpture presents him as an idealized mounted warrior and became an important visual symbol of the Hispanic Society.

The Met – Patio from the Castle of Vélez Blanco

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5th Ave, New York

Inside The Metropolitan Museum of Art stands an extraordinary architectural fragment from the Castle of Vélez Blanco in Almería, Spain.

The marble courtyard was constructed between 1506 and 1515 for Pedro Fajardo, first Marquis of Los Vélez. Made from marble quarried at Macael in Almería, it combines Spanish architectural traditions, including its asymmetrical layout, Gothic gargoyles, and timbered ceiling, with Renaissance decoration executed by northern Italian stone carvers.

The courtyard was removed from the castle in the early twentieth century and eventually came to the United States. It entered The Met's collection through the bequest of collector George Blumenthal in 1941 and was reconstructed inside the museum.

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an art museum in New York City. It is the largest art museum in the Americas and fourth-largest in the world.

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1515 - Patio del castillo de Vélez Blanco - Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art stands an extraordinary architectural fragment from the Castle of Vélez Blanco in Almería, Spain.The marble courtyard was constructed between 1506 and 1515 for Pedro Fajardo, first Marquis of Los Vélez. Made from marble quarried at Macael in Almería, it combines Spanish architectural traditions, including its asymmetrical layout, Gothic gargoyles, and timbered ceiling, with Renaissance decoration executed by northern Italian stone carvers.The courtyard was removed from the castle in the early twentieth century and eventually came to the United States. It entered The Met's collection through the bequest of collector George Blumenthal in 1941 and was reconstructed inside the museum.

The Met Cloisters – Apse from San Martín at Fuentidueña

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99 Margaret Corbin Dr, New York

The Fuentidueña Chapel at The Met Cloisters contains an authentic Romanesque apse from the church of San Martín in Fuentidueña, Segovia, Spain, dating to approximately 1175–1200.

The apse is a major example of Castilian Romanesque architecture. Following an agreement with the Government of Spain, it was carefully dismantled stone by stone in Fuentidueña and reconstructed in New York.

Unlike many architectural objects permanently removed from their countries of origin, the Fuentidueña Apse remains formally an exchange loan from the Government of Spain, making the installation itself an important example of cultural cooperation between Spain and the United States.

The chapel also contains other important examples of medieval Spanish art, including a Romanesque crucifix and a monumental fresco.

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1938 - The Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art - A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters Museum & Gardens in Fort Tryon Park is devoted exclusively to medieval Europe's art and architecture. Surrounded by medieval gardens, five monastery-inspired buildings with stone arches, columns, and other architectural elements taken from actual medieval structures house a Romanesque chapel, statuary, and crucifixes and a 12th-century Spanish apse. The Cloisters collection includes approximately 5,000 medieval works of art, including the magnificent "Unicorn Tapestries" (c. 1495â€"1505). The museum and park were designed and built thanks to an endowment grant by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who donated the majority of his collection; it was completed in 1938. (Much of the rest of the collection came from George Grey Barnard, an American sculptor and assiduous collector of medieval art who had already established a medieval art museum in the Fort Washington neighborhood.) Rockefeller purchased more than 65 acres, north of Barnard's museum, as land for a public park (Fort Tryon) and what would become the Cloisters. He also purchased and donated to the state of NJ hundreds of acres of the NJ Palisades, on the other side of the Hudson, to preserve the museum's attractive view.

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1200 - Apse from San Martín at Fuentidueña at The Met Cloisters

La Nacional – Spanish Benevolent Society

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239 W 14th St, New York

Founded in 1868 by Spanish immigrants, La Nacional – Spanish Benevolent Society is the oldest surviving Spanish cultural institution in the United States and one of the most important physical remnants of New York's historic Spanish immigrant community.

Created to promote solidarity among Spanish and Hispanic-American residents, the organization became an essential support network for immigrants arriving in New York. It provided shelter, meals, health assistance, funeral services, social connections, and practical support to generations of newcomers.

La Nacional acquired its current building at 239 West 14th Street in 1925, in the heart of the area that became known as Little Spain.

The institution was also connected to major Spanish artists and intellectuals visiting or living in New York. Its own historical record notes that Federico García Lorca was welcomed by the president of La Nacional when he arrived in New York in 1929 and is said to have spent his first night there.

Today La Nacional remains a living cultural, social, and gastronomic center and one of the clearest surviving links to New York's Spanish immigrant history.

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1868 - Spanish Benevolent Society (La Nacional) - La Nacional is the oldest Spanish cultural institution in the United States of America.

Little Spain / Calle Catorce

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W 14th St, New York

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the area around West 14th Street developed into the center of a substantial Spanish immigrant community in Manhattan, popularly known as Little Spain or Calle Catorce.

Spanish immigrants established restaurants, food stores, clothing businesses, clubs, religious organizations, and mutual-aid societies in the neighborhood. Institutions such as La Nacional, the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Casa Moneo, La Bilbaína, Café Madrid, and numerous other businesses created a distinctive Spanish cultural landscape.

The wider Spanish community extended beyond a single block and included immigrants from Galicia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Andalusia, and other regions of Spain.

Much of Little Spain disappeared as the neighborhood changed during the second half of the twentieth century. For that reason, mapping its former sites offers an opportunity to recover an important but now largely invisible chapter of New York's immigration history.

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1800 - Little Spain OR Calle Catorce - During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the area around West 14th Street developed into the center of a substantial Spanish immigrant community in Manhattan, popularly known as Little Spain or Calle Catorce. Spanish immigrants established restaurants, food stores, clothing businesses, clubs, religious organizations, and mutual-aid societies in the neighborhood. Institutions such as La Nacional, the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Casa Moneo, La Bilbaína, Café Madrid, and numerous other businesses created a distinctive Spanish cultural landscape. The wider Spanish community extended beyond a single block and included immigrants from Galicia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Andalusia, and other regions of Spain. Much of Little Spain disappeared as the neighborhood changed during the second half of the twentieth century. For that reason, mapping its former sites offers an opportunity to recover an important but now largely invisible chapter of New York's immigration history. ^[1]

Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

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Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 229 W 14th St, New York

The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe was founded at this location in 1902 to serve New York's growing Spanish-speaking Catholic population, at a time when Spanish immigrants were establishing the community that became known as Little Spain.

The parish and neighboring La Nacional became two of the principal institutional anchors of the Spanish community on West 14th Street. The church provided not only religious services but also an important gathering place for Spanish-speaking immigrants.

A chapel was initially established inside the existing brownstone. In 1921, architect Gustave Steinback designed the distinctive church façade occupying the lower floors of the building.

The site is an important surviving reminder of the religious and community life of Manhattan's historic Spanish immigrant enclave.

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1902 - Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Instituto Cervantes New York

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211 E 49th St, New York

The Instituto Cervantes was created by Spain in 1991 to promote the Spanish language and the cultures of Spain and the Spanish-speaking world internationally.

Its New York center serves as one of the city's principal contemporary institutions for Spanish cultural diplomacy. It offers Spanish-language instruction, exhibitions, lectures, performances, screenings, literary programs, and other cultural activities.

The center also houses the Jorge Luis Borges Library, whose collection includes approximately 85,000 items relating to Spain and Latin America, including books, periodicals, films, music, and digital resources.

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1991 - Instituto Cervantes New York - Its New York center serves as one of the city's principal contemporary institutions for Spanish cultural diplomacy. It offers Spanish-language instruction, exhibitions, lectures, performances, screenings, literary programs, and other cultural activities.The center also houses the Jorge Luis Borges Library, whose collection includes approximately 85,000 items relating to Spain and Latin America, including books, periodicals, films, music, and digital resources.

Miguel de Cervantes Statue at New York University

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1/2 5th Ave, New York

This bronze statue honors Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quixote and one of the most influential writers in Spanish and world literature. The bronze statue of Miguel de Cervantes stands in NYU’s “Willy’s Garden,” a courtyard just off Fifth Avenue between Washington Square North and Washington Mews.

The sculpture is a replica of the celebrated nineteenth-century monument to Cervantes outside the Spanish Congress in Madrid. The New York version was presented as a gift from the city of Madrid to New York.

It was initially installed in Bryant Park. When Bryant Park underwent major restoration, the statue was eventually transferred to New York University and installed in a courtyard near Washington Square, where it remains a physical symbol of Spanish literary culture and Spain's cultural relationship with New York.

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1830 - New York University - Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.In 1832, the initial non-denominational all-male institution began its first classes near City Hall based on a curriculum focused on a secular education. The university, in 1833, then moved and has maintained its main campus in Greenwich Village surrounding Washington Square Park.

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1935 - Miguel de Cervantes Statue - This bronze statue honors Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quixote and one of the most influential writers in Spanish and world literature. The bronze statue of Miguel de Cervantes stands in NYU’s “Willy’s Garden,” a courtyard just off Fifth Avenue between Washington Square North and Washington Mews. The sculpture is a replica of the celebrated nineteenth-century monument to Cervantes outside the Spanish Congress in Madrid. The New York version was presented as a gift from the city of Madrid to New York. It was initially installed in Bryant Park. When Bryant Park underwent major restoration, the statue was eventually transferred to New York University and installed in a courtyard near Washington Square, where it remains a physical symbol of Spanish literary culture and Spain's cultural relationship with New York. ^[1]

King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at New York University

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53 Washington Square S, New York

Espacio de Culturas is an academic and cultural center dedicated to promoting research, teaching, and public discussion about Spain and the Spanish-speaking world located at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU.

Located at Washington Square, the center reflects the long academic and intellectual relationship between Spain and New York University. Through lectures, conferences, exhibitions, publications, and cultural programs, it provides a platform for scholars, writers, artists, and public figures working on Spanish and Iberian subjects.

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1893 - King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU

Congregation Shearith Israel – The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue

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2 W 70th St, New York

Founded in 1654, Congregation Shearith Israel is the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States and is traditionally known as The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue.

Its history is rooted in the Sephardic diaspora created by centuries of persecution and the 15th century expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula. The congregation's earliest community included Sephardic Jews whose families had roots in Spain and Portugal and whose migration routes extended through places such as Amsterdam, Brazil, and the Caribbean before reaching New Amsterdam.

Shearith Israel therefore connects New York to the much longer history of Sephardic Jewish culture originating in the Iberian world. The congregation preserves a distinctive Spanish and Portuguese Sephardic liturgical tradition that continues today.

Although the congregation’s present building on West 70th Street dates from a later period, the institution itself provides one of the oldest surviving connections between New York and the Iberian Peninsula.

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1654 - Shearith Israel Synagogue

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1683 - Shearith Israel Graveyard - This graveyard is the earliest surviving burial ground of the oldest Jewish congregation in North America. maintained by Congregation Shearith Israel (Hebrew, "Remnant of Israel"), which is itself the oldest Jewish congregation in North America. (The Congregation was formed by Spanish and Portuguese Sephardic Jewish immigrants in 1654.) The site was originally on a hill overlooking the East River in an open area at the northern periphery of the British-Dutch colonial settlement. Today, the cemetery is a mere fragment of its original extent. Only about a hundred headstones and above-ground tombs can still be seen in what remains of the old burial ground, which rises slightly above street level.In a letter in 1776, a staff officer of General George Washington recommended emplacing an artillery battery "at the foot of the Jews' burying ground" to help secure Long Island Sound. American prisoners of war were buried en masse in entrenchments beyond the graveyard.In 1823, a city ordinance prohibited burials south of Canal Street. Encroaching development and erosion necessitated several instances over the years in which the congregation was forced to reduce the size of the Chatham Square Cemetery and disinter bodies, which were moved to their three other graveyards.

Casa Hispánica at Columbia University

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612 W 116th St, New York

Casa Hispánica at Columbia University became one of the most important centers for the study and dissemination of Spanish culture in twentieth-century New York. It provides an especially valuable connection to the history of Spanish intellectuals and Republican exiles, following the Spanish Civil War, in the United States.

Spanish scholar Federico de Onís joined Columbia in 1916 and played a fundamental role in developing Hispanic studies at the university. In 1920 he founded the Instituto de las Españas, today the Hispanic Institute, and in 1930 established Casa Hispánica as a center for Spanish and Hispanic intellectual and cultural activity. He later founded the influential journal Revista Hispánica Moderna.

Through lectures, academic programs, publications, and personal networks, Columbia became an important meeting point for Spanish writers and scholars. Its intellectual circle was connected with figures such as Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Francisco García Lorca, Fernando de los Ríos, and other Spanish academics and writers whose careers were reshaped by the Spanish Civil War and exile.

Casa Hispánica therefore offers an important physical location through which to tell the broader story of

Spanish intellectual culture in New York before and after the Civil War, as well as the networks that helped sustain Spanish scholarship and literature in exile.

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1754 - Columbia University - The original McKim, Mead and White plan for this leading university was never completed, and buildings by contemporary starchitects have popped up over the years, giving Columbia's campus and eclectic look. Of the Classically-styled Charles McKim buildings, the monumental (if now misnamed) Low Memorial Library impresses most with its elegant steps (popular with sunbathers) and enormous dome. (Today it houses administrative offices rather than books.) Other notable campus buildings by Gwathmey Siegel, Rafael Moneo, Gruzen Samton, and Bernard Tschumi.

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1906 - Casa Hispánica at Columbia University - Casa Hispánica at Columbia University became one of the most important centers for the study and dissemination of Spanish culture in twentieth-century New York. It provides an especially valuable connection to the history of Spanish intellectuals and Republican exiles, following the Spanish Civil War, in the United States. ^[2]

Queen Sofía Spanish Institute

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Current offices: 445 Park Ave, New York

Founded in New York in 1954 as the Spanish Institute by a group of Americans with a profound interest in Hispanic culture, the Institute’s mission is to stimulate interest in the United States in the culture, art, language, literature, history, and way of life of Spanish-speaking countries, while promoting mutual knowledge and understanding.

A particularly important chapter in its history is associated with 684 Park Avenue, the Oliver D. Filley House. In 1965, philanthropist Margaret Rockefeller Strong, Marquesa de Cuevas, saved the historic building from demolition and, together with the McMicking Foundation, donated it to the Institute. The building served as the Institute's headquarters for several decades and became an important venue for Spanish cultural life in New York, hosting exhibitions, lectures, performances, receptions, and other cultural programs.

In 2003, Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain accepted the Board of Directors’ unanimous decision to rename the organization in Her Majesty’s honor. As the Institute’s Patroness of Honor, Queen Sofía has maintained an active relationship with its mission and activities.

In 2014, the building at 684 Park Avenue was sold. Today, the QSSI continues its work through educational and cultural initiatives in history, art, literature, performing arts, science, and other fields, collaborating with institutions throughout the United States, Spain, and the wider Spanish-speaking world thus deepening mutual understanding and creating bonds of peace.

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1954 - Queen Sofía Spanish Institute founded - Formerly the Oliver D. Filley House, this mansion is now home to the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, an organization founded to promote Spanish language and culture.

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37-24, 24th St, Suite 102, Long Island City, NY 11101