- Epiphany city tarpon springs full#
- Epiphany city tarpon springs professional#
- Epiphany city tarpon springs windows#
The annual Epiphany celebration, also called the Theophany (meaning “appearance of God”), is held on Jan. Greek Orthodox clergy bless the Tarpon Springs fleet, fishermen and sponge divers and the boys age 16 to 18 chosen to dive for this year's Epiphany cross.
Epiphany city tarpon springs professional#
Photo courtesy of Tarpon Springs professional photographer Beeba Christopoulos Lekkas. Prior to Thursday's celebration, the Pinellas County city founded by Greek immigrants who brought along their homeland's sponge-diving industry, held a Blessing of the Fleet on Wednesday during which clergy from the Greek Orthodox Church blessed the fishermen, sponge divers and their vessels.
Epiphany city tarpon springs full#
For a full list of past cross retrievers, click here. He retrieved the cross in 1974 and today serves as Archbishop of Thyateria and Great Britain. Among noteworthy past retrievers is Nikitas Lulias. Past divers have included war veterans, doctors, lawyers and politicians. Those selected to dive for the cross are young Orthodox Christian men between the ages of 16 and 18. The young man who retrieves the cross also becomes a member of an elite brotherhood, called on to represent the Orthodox faith. as dozens of teen boys dive into the chilly waters of the bayou in the hopes of being the first to retrieve it and receive a year's worth of blessings. The archbishop will then throw the white cross into the water at 1:30 p.m. Nicholas was elevated to cathedral status for West Florida on On January 6, 1976.His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, archbishop of America for the Green Orthodox Church, will be on hand to offer the invocation, followed by the release of a white dove, representing the Holy Spirit and hope for peace and, this year in particular, good health in the coming year. Honoring this, in 1975, the Tarpon Springs Board of Commissioners passed a resolution designating the city the "Epiphany City" of the United States. Nicholas was by then a significant center of community life as well, with major festivals surrounding Epiphany, Greek Independence Day, and Orthodox Easter.
Construction began in 1941 and was completed in 1943, when it was consecrated by Archbishop Athenagoras (later Patriarch) at Epiphany. The parish added a school in 1925.īy 1935, the parish had outgrown the first church and began raising funds toward current structure. Stamatis Koutouzis was appointed the first parish priest. The first church, completed that year at a cost of $300 for the land and $3,500 for construction, was a wood frame structure painted white. By 1907, the population was large enough to support a Greek Orthodox church, a project put under the supervision of Nicholas Peppas, a native of Aegina. The trade attracted Greek immigrants as well as Greeks from other parts of the U.S. The community traces its history to John Cocoris, a native of Leonidio in Arcadia, Greece, who settled in the area in 1896 and became a prosperous sponge diver and trader. On December 4, 1969, the icon of Saint Nicholas was observed to have drops of moisture, and some consider it a Weeping Icon. Forty-one icons, sponsored by various members of the parish, were delivered in 1952, with more added in subsequent years. The interior is richly decorated with icons, many by Greek iconographer George Saklaridis. A new altar of Carrara marble was installed in 1965.
It, along with the cathedra, choir stalls, and other components were obtained with help from George Frantzis. The altar was originally part of the Greek exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Within the dome are three large chandeliers imported from Czechoslovakia. Llorens of Atlanta, and the sixty ton altar, made of Pentelic marble.
Epiphany city tarpon springs windows#
Noted features include 23 stained glass windows surrounding the dome depicting episodes in the life of Jesus and the saints, hand-painted by Joseph V. It is a local landmark which has been featured on postcards. Modeled in part after the Hagia Sophia in what is now Istanbul, it melds Byzantine and Gothic Revival styles. The domed main church building, designed by the Eugene Brothers of Chicago, was completed in 1943.
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