Manhattan’s rebuilt St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was consecrated on July 4, 2022.
The church and national shrine occupies Liberty Park at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. Its predecessor, a small Greek Orthodox parish church on Cedar Street, was destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001. The rebuilt sanctuary was created as both a parish church and a national shrine dedicated to prayer, remembrance, and public gathering.
Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava designed the new building with Byzantine references, including visual inspiration from Hagia Sophia and the Church of the Savior in Istanbul, as well as the Parthenon in Athens. Its luminous marble exterior is intended to evoke a lantern in the night.
The date is easy to mix up with other milestones. The cornerstone ceremony took place on October 18, 2014, while construction was listed as completed on December 6, 2022. The church fully opened for regular services on December 6, the feast of Saint Nicholas, but its formal consecration had already taken place on July 4, 2022.