Athens - Grand Mitropolis Cathedral

(Local Name: Megali Mitrópolis) The Great Mitrópolis occupies the site of the monastery of St Nicholas which was destroyed in 1827. It is dedicated to the Annunciation (Evangelismós), which is represented above the main doorway, but is also known as St Nicholas in memory of the former monastery.

The church was built between 1842 and 1862 to the design of Schaubert, who set out to give the new capital of Greece a cathedral worthy of its status. The exterior displays the eclecticism of the 19th C., its interior leaning towards a rather somber magnificence. Beside the first pillar on the left is the tomb of Patriarch Gregory IV, who in 1821 was hanged by the Turks in Constantinople and is honored as a martyr. (There is a statue of him in front of the University.)

The principal festivals of the Greek Orthodox Church are celebrated in the Great Mitrópolis in the presence of the head of state.