Santiago Calatrava will design the Greek Orthodox church of St. Nicholas which was destroyed during the World Trade Center terrorist attack in 2001.

The new building will be raised in two years and will be dome shaped. The ceremony, during which the foundation stone was laid by the Orthodox archbishop of America, was held in late October on the site where the destroyed church was situated. Interestingly, the project by the Spanish architect is not modelled on the ruined building. As the artist says, he was inspired by Hagia Sophia, which is a model for all Orthodox churches. The marble church will be surrounded by lawns and, thanks to LED lighting, its stone elevation will be illuminated at night.  

The St. Nicholas church, which was raised in 1916, was the only sacral building destroyed during the 9/11 terrorist attack. The church was erected in 1916 on the site of a former small temple built in 1832. The destruction of the church meant losing precious relics of Saint Nicholas, Catherine and Sava, which were given by the Russian tsar Nicholas II.