Greece acquired a “national shrine”, a “house” in the heart of New York after the opening of the church of St. Nicholas at Point Zero yesterday.
The building that housed the old temple which was the only place of worship which was lost under the ruins of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was built in the late 19th century and it had gone through many uses until it was bought by Greek of New York and converted into a Orthodox church.
Most of all, however, it was a meeting place, contact of the expatriates, their first stop in the US.
The current church of Agios Nikolaos, which reaches its completion after 20 years, is more than a church that was rebuilt mainly with the offers of the expatriates, who over the years saw the initial budget – almost – fivefold.
It is a national sanctuary of the Greeks and at the same time a place far from the hatred and intolerance that demolished together the World Trade Center, the original church, scattered death in New they violently changed the world as we knew it until that day.
The church of Agios Nikolaos, when it starts operating normally, from next Easter, will have a place of prayer for all religions. The space in which the church is built, after all, is ideal for something like this: It is located on the hill that was created and is a natural continuation of the monument to the victims of 9/11.
At the entrance of the temple is placed and welcomes the visitor the only sculpture that was saved from the WTC: In bad shape, but it is there, a witness to the atrocity committed that day. The church itself, which was inaugurated on Tuesday by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Archbishop of America Elpidoforos, is the work of Santiago Calatrava.
The architect’s inspiration goes back to a mosaic of the Virgin Mary in Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. It is lined with white Pentelic marble, the same used on the Parthenon and the impressive dome is made so that it is illuminated at night, while it is three times the size of the original church that stood in the shadow of the South Tower.
The opening of St. Nicholas was one of the highlights of the twelve-day official visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the United States.
Mr. Bartholomew was received in the United States with the honors of head of state, he met with President Joe Biden as well as Anthony Blinken among many other officials.
