St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine Finally Opens, and the Design Doesn’t Disappoint

In 2016, when the Santiago Calatrava–designed Oculus was completed, another Calatrava structure was in the midst of construction nearby: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine. Though originally expected to be finished around the same time, after years of construction and fundraising delays, Calatrava, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, and Greek Orthodox Church officials announced that the house of worship was finally complete. 

Twenty years earlier, the original St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was destroyed in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center—the only religious structure impacted—and the Spanish architect was selected to redesign a new church for the congregation. “To see the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine finally open is emblematic of Lower Manhattan’s storied future and defining past,” Calatrava said in a statement. “I hope to see this structure serve its purpose as a sanctuary for worship but also as a place for reflection on what the city endured and how it is moving forward.” 

Heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture, the rebuilt structure is made from Pentelic marble—the same type of stone that makes up the Parthenon in Athens. The church’s form is defined by four stone-clad towers that support a large dome. This shape in particular was specifically inspired by a mosaic in Hagia Sophia: the Virgin Mary as the “Throne of Wisdom.” Through a series of watercolors, Calatrava slowly morphed the the outlines and shapes in the artwork into the facade of the church. 

Inside, St. Nicholas holds a narthex, porticus, nave, iconostasis, and sanctuary; within the dome, images of 20 prophets appear between 40 windows and 40 ribs—the same number of ribs in Saint Nicholas. “This Shrine will be a place for everyone who comes to the Sacred Ground at the World Trade Center, a place for them to imagine and envision a world where mercy is inevitable, reconciliation is desirable, and forgiveness is possible,” His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, said in a statement. The church sits within the World Trade Center campus, about 25 feet above street level, just a bit taller than the nearby canopy of the World Trade Center Memorial oak trees. 

The completed St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church serves as Calatrava’s latest contribution to the World Trade Center Memorial site as well as to the greater community of Lower Manhattan. The Oculus, which acts as a transportation hub for multiple trains and a shopping center, is designed to emulate a phoenix rising from ashes, complete with large organic white wings. St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and Shrine, on the other hand, represents strength, resilience, and light. “Architecture can have an intrinsic symbolic value, which is not written or expressed in a specific way but in an abstract and synthetic manner, sending a message and thus leaving a lasting legacy,” Calatrava said.