St Nicholas Greek Orthodox church in Canberra finishes storm restoration

·

Canberra’s only Greek Orthodox church has received a $1 million makeover after hail ravaged the 50-year-old building in January.

As much as 80 percent of the roof of St Nicholas Church in Kingston was damaged in the unprecedented hailstorm.

Tiles and stained glass windows smashed during the storm led to flooding throughout the church.

“It was a big disaster,” St Nicholas Parish priest Reverend Father Petros Kipouros told The Canberra Times.

“It was very sad for the Greek Orthodox community of Canberra.”

Iconographer Petar Stefanovic has worked on the interior of the dome for months. Picture: Karleen Minney.

Church operations at St Nicholas only became stranger as COVID-19 restrictions led to reduced services, but this allowed for quick construction.

“We took coronavirus as an opportunity to proceed with our church restorations and ensure… St Nicholas [is] restored to its former beauty and glory,” John Loukadellis, President of the Greek Orthodox Community & Church of Canberra (GOCCC), told The Greek Herald in May.

“Over the last four months we fixed the outside of the church, we replaced the copper [domes] with new ones and everything that was damaged is fixed,” Father Kipouros added.

Parishioners became passionate about fixing the church after the word got out.

“We had an interview with (local media) and after 10 minutes one Greek lady called and said, ‘look Father I’ve seen you on TV and I would like to offer $50,000 for the restoration of the dome’,” Mr Kipouros said.

Canberra’s only Greek Orthodox church has received a $1 million makeover after hail ravaged the 50-year-old building in January. Photo supplied.

However, these generous gestures were not necessary as the church was insured.

“Leading up to works there was an extensive process with insurance. The insurance company has been very good with the entire process. The damage was obvious,” Savil Group chief executive Dimitri Livas said.

Mr Livas, who is a broken building specialist, has been at the helm of the rebuild. The build was also personal for Livas, a member of the St Nicholas community.

“It’s worth trying to get things perfect, it’s not the sort of thing you want to come back to in a year,” Mr Livas said.

“It’s going to be here for 50 [years], 100 years – longer.”

The rebuild required craftsmen skilled in rare areas.

Melbourne-based iconographer Petar Stefanovic painted scenes inside the new domes. Mr Stefanovic went to Greece to learn iconography from a monastery at Holy Mount Athos, one of the few places the craft is taught.

The church sustained severe hail damage in January 2020. Source: GOCCC.

“I’m interested in my faith as an Orthodox Christian and I was interested in painting and art. [Iconography] is an expression of my faith,” he said.

“It’s very fulfilling, I love the work that I do. In the dome right up the top there is an unique icon of Jesus Christ. There’s four angels around him. Then beneath that there are eight windows with prophets from the Old Testament.”

The new domes were created by Sydney-based roofer Ben Ashford, who learned the craft from his father.

“I learned [copper roofing] from my old man. He brought it over from England many years ago and basically I’ve been going on-site with him since the age of five and learning that way,” Mr Ashford said.

“There’s no TAFE course or anything for it.”

The copper domes have a shiny rose-gold look but this was temporary – the copper would eventually oxidise to a green-blue.

“It all depends on the air pollution in the area,” Mr Ashford said.

“I’ve done jobs in Tasmania where it stayed shiny for six to eight months but I’ve also done jobs in Japan where it went green within three days.

“I’m expecting it to stay pretty shiny here for at least four months.”

Mr Kipouros was unsure of how the church would celebrate the end of the rebuild while COVID-19 restrictions were still in place.

But the experience reminded him to take the good with the bad.

“Sometimes we must see all the positives from something negative,” he said.

“Finally we have fixed everything and this is the good news.”

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

Athenian Association of NSW honours Greek community leaders for their achievements

The Athenian Association of New South Wales recently hosted a memorable Hellenic Achievements Awards Luncheon.

Mytilenians hold memorial service in Sydney to mark anniversary of Lesvos’ liberation

The Mytilenian community gathered on Sunday, November 10 to commemorate the 112th anniversary of Lesvos’ liberation.

The Lazy Lobster returns to Brighton-Le-Sands

Beloved seafood institution The Lazy Lobster from the 1980s is making a highly anticipated return to Brighton-Le-Sands.

Professor Nikos Papastergiadis launches ‘John Berger and Me’ at the Greek Centre

On the evening of Wednesday, November 6, a crowd of over 200 gathered at the Greek Centre in Melbourne to celebrate the launch.

St Nectarios feast day celebrated with inaugural Aegina Festival in SA

The inaugural Aegina Festival, held on Saturday, celebrated the Feast Day of Saint Nectarios at the Holy Monastery of Saint Nectarios.

You May Also Like

NSW Police officer Matthew Theoklis leaves behind three-year-old twin girls after tragic death

A NSW police officer who took his own life last month has been identified as father-of-two Sergeant Matthew Theoklis.

Greek Australian owner of ‘Fedra Olive Grove’ wins 2020 Athena International Olive Oil Competition

Fedra Olive Grove recently announced their victory in the prestigious 2020 Athena International Olive Oil Competition.

Greece’s Deputy Defence Minister sends message to diaspora for Greek Independence Day

Greece's Deputy Defence Minister, Nikos Hardalias, has reached out to Australia's diaspora ahead of Greek Independence Day on March 25.