Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral

Byzantine Revival cathedral at the spiritual heart of Greek Tarpon Springs

Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral is the spiritual centre of Tarpon Springs' Greek community, a Byzantine Revival church built in 1943 with stained glass windows modelled on the Hagia Sofia. The interior is lavishly decorated with gold mosaics, elaborate iconostasis, and hanging censers — an unexpected and genuine piece of the Eastern Mediterranean transplanted to a Florida waterfront town.

Free to visit during daylight hours. The cathedral is not a tourist attraction in any conventional sense — it is an active church, and visitors should be respectful of that. The weeping icon (an image of the Virgin Mary that reportedly began producing what appeared to be crystalline tears in 1970) is kept inside and draws pilgrims from across the Greek Orthodox world. Whatever you make of the religious claims, the icon has a real history and the church's response to it is worth understanding.

The cathedral is within easy walking distance of Spring Bayou, where the Epiphany ceremony takes place each January.

things to do sight architecture
A story
The Epiphany celebration held here every January 6th is one of the most extraordinary religious spectacles in the United States. Young men dive into Spring Bayou to retrieve a gold cross thrown by the bishop, and whoever retrieves it is said to receive good luck for the entire year. Thousands of spectators line the banks — it has been held without interruption since 1903.