Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity

Activities

The cathedral is the home parish for 800 families, and hosts dignitaries and visitors. It offers regular worship (which is broadcast on television), Sunday school, afternoon school, the Cathedral School (grades N-8), Bible study, and various ministries and fellowship organizations.

History

In 1891 the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox parish's first home was in part of an Evangelical church on West 53rd Street for US$50 per month ($ in current dollar terms). It was the second Greek Orthodox church in the Americas and the first in New York City.

In 1904 it was purchased and moved to a Gothic Episcopal church at 153 East 72nd Street. In 1927, the East 72nd Street church burned down, and two years later land was purchased and a new church was built for $577,000 ($ in current dollar terms) in Byzantine style. Eleanor Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the cathedral on September 14, 1931. Holy Trinity moved to its current location on March 4, 1932. Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople, later Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, consecrated the cathedral on October 22, 1933. He called it: "The Cathedral of all of Hellenism in America". In 1949, it established the Cathedral School. It was designated the archdiocesan cathedral in 1962.

On September 18, 1999, Archbishop Demetrios was enthroned at the cathedral as primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America. The cathedral's dean, the Rev. Robert Stephanopoulos, had been demoted and relieved of responsibilities at the cathedral in January 1999 by Archbishop Spyridon of America, but by late 1999 had regained his position. Stephanopoulos retired in 2007, after being dean for 25 years, and Frank Marangos was named the new dean. Anastasios Gounaris became dean in 2012.

Opera singer Maria Callas was baptised at the church in 1926. In 2001 television journalist and former political advisor George Stephanopoulos and comedian Alexandra Wentworth were married there.

Architecture

The exterior is Romanesque Revival red brick and limestone. The cathedral's architects were Kerr Rainsford, John A. Thompson, and Gerald A. Holmes; they later designed Hunter College Uptown, which is now known as Lehman College. The interior has Byzantine mosaics, botticino marble for the walls, columns, and altar, and imported Italian stained glass. The iconography on the dome was created by Georgios Gliatas, a student of iconographer Fotis Kontoglou. The church sits down the block from the Bohemian Gothic Revival Jan Hus Presbyterian Church.

References

References

1. "Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity". Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
2. Thomas E. FitzGerald. (1998). "The Orthodox Church: Student Edition". Greenwood Publishing Group.
3. David W. Dunlap. (2004). "From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship".
4. (2001). "Glory in Gotham: Manhattan's houses of worship : a guide to their history ..".
5. Jack R. Finnegan. (2007). "Newcomer's Handbook For Moving to and Living in New York City: Including Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and Northern New Jersey". First Books.
6. "Cathedral History | Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity". Thecathedralnyc.org.
7. Nadine Brozan. (September 19, 1999). "Orthodox Archbishop Enthroned in a Majestic Ceremony". The New York Times.
8. Larry Stammer. (January 23, 1999). "Stephanopoulos' Father Loses Post". Los Angeles Times.
9. (October 1, 2007). "Father Robert Stephanopoulos to retire after of 25 years as Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral". Worldwide Faith News.
10. (September 27, 2007). "Rev. Dr. Frank Marangos Named Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity". Worldwide Faith News.
11. "Clergy | Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity". Thecathedralnyc.org.
12. Jellinek, Georg. (1986). "Callas: portrait of a prima donna". [[Dover Publications.
13. Petsalis-Diomidis, Nikolaos. (2001). "The unknown Callas: the Greek years". [[Amadeus Press]].
14. Fuentes, Tamara. (6 March 2018). "George Stephanopoulos and His Wife Ali Wentworth's Have an Unexpected Love Story".
15. Eric Peterson. (2005). "North American Churches". Publications International, Limited.
16. (2010). "AIA Guide to New York City". Oxford University Press.