St. Nicholas National Shrine

the original saint nicholas greek orthodox church cast a reverent and faithful shadow on the world trade center. greeks purchased the row house in 1892 as a community home, and it became the saint nicholas church in 1916. for many greeks immigrants, it would have been their first stop after seeing the statue of liberty and disembarking from ellis island. the little church was a spiritual jewel, open to all. generations of new yorkers, orthodox and non-orthodox alike, would stop in to light a candle, say a prayer, or just sit quietly. everything changed on 9/11. saint nicholas was completely destroyed in the collapse of world trade center tower two during the september 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. during the weeks and months that followed, archbishop demetrios of america presided over numerous funerals and memorials for the many greek orthodox christians who died that fateful day. he participated in interfaith and ecumenical events, at city, state and national levels. and most importantl