As Christians around the world celebrated St. Nicholas Day Tuesday, the Greek Orthodox faithful headed for ground zero to pray for the St. Nicholas Church lost in the 2001 terrorist attack.
“This 36-foot-tall church was just a stone’s throw away from the trade center. People tried to buy air rights over it, or to move it,” said Peter Drakoulias, a member of the almost century-old congregation. “But the church stayed. It was always the little church that could.”
The big question now is: Will the tiny house of worship that stood on 24-by-55 square feet of ground zero be part of the rebuilt World Trade Center site?
“We’re working closely with St. Nicholas, the Port Authority and other partners to find an agreeable location for a rebuilt church on the World Trade Center site,” John Gallagher, a spokesman for the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., said Tuesday.
A workshed stands where the church once served generations of Greek-American families. Built in 1916, the church was a refuge for Greek sailors arriving in New York harbor who believed that St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors, would keep their ships from sinking.
St. Nicholas, commonly known as Santa Claus, was born in the 3rd Century to a wealthy family in Patara, in what is now Turkey. He became a bishop and lavished his inheritance on the needy, especially children.
