Phone +1 727-937-3540 | ||
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Address 36 N Pinellas Ave, Tarpon Springs, FL 34689, USA Similar A L Anderson Park, Leepa‑Rattner Museum of Art, Brooker Creek Preserve, Tarpon Springs Aquarium, Anderson Park | ||
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, is a historic church building and center for Greek-American life in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The church hosts an annual epiphany celebration on January 6 in which Greek Orthodox boys aged 16 to 18 dive into Spring Bayou to retrieve a cross. A statue of an epiphany diver is located in front of the church. The church has been featured on postcards. The church is located at 36 North Pinellas Avenue.
The first St. Nicholas Church in Tarpon was built in 1907. The existent building was completed in 1943. The domed church is an example of Neo-Byzantine architecture and was modelled after Saint Sophia Cathedral (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople (now Istanbul).
The church includes marble from Greece. A weeping icon of Saint Nicholas is inside near the entrance. It has been seen to shed actual tears by some observers. Inside there are 23 stained glass windows and the three large chandeliers from Czechoslovakia. The sixty ton altar of Greek marble was a gift from Greece and was originally part of the Greek exhibit at the first New York World's Fair. It was obtained with help from George Frantzis.