Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is located in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

, United States. Designed by architect William L. Steele, the church building has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

since 1998.

History

Before the founding of Holy Trinity Church in ,

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

Christians had to travel to

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

to attend services. Paikos K. Pappaphilipopoulos, who would

Americanize Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of the American culture and economy on other countries outside the United States, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, technology ...

his name to "Peter Nelson", led the organization of a church. Their initial meeting was held at a

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

Hall. In 1920, they purchased property near the downtown area for 35,000 (). There was a house on the property that was used as the parish's first church. Father Constantinos Harvelas served as the church's first pastor. The

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

for the present church building was laid in the spring of 1925 and the church was dedicated on 4 October 1925. It is the oldest and largest Orthodox Church building in Iowa. In , a fire gutted the church's interior. Christ Kamages of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

served as architect for the renovation while iconographer Elias Damianakis of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and woodcarver Steve Kavroulakis of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

designed and built a new

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

iconostasion In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church. The ico ...

, and iconography. Metropolitan Iakovos of Krinis rededicated the church in .

References

External links

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20th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Christian organizations established in 1918 Church buildings with domes Churches completed in 1926 Churches in Sioux City, Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Eastern Orthodox churches in Iowa Greek-American culture in Iowa Greek Orthodox churches in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Sioux City, Iowa William L. Steele buildings {{orthodox-church-stub