| Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church | |
|---|---|
| Trinity Chapel Complex | |
 | |
  Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church | |
| 40°44′37″N73°59′24″W / 40.74361°N 73.99000°W /40.74361; -73.99000 | |
| Location | 15 West 25th St. Manhattan,New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Serbian Orthodox Church |
| Previous denomination | Episcopal Church |
| Website | stsavanyc |
| History | |
| Former name | Trinity Chapel |
| Status | Church |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Temporarily closed |
| Architect(s) | sanctuary: Richard Upjohn parish school: Jacob Wrey Mould clergy house: Richard Upjohn & Richard M. Upjohn reredos & altar: Frederick Clarke Withers |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Years built | sanctuary: 1850–55 parish school: 1860 clergy house: 1866 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Eastern America |
Trinity Chapel Complex | |
| NRHP reference No. | 82001205[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 16, 1982 |
| Designated NYCL | April 18, 1968 |
TheTrinity Chapel Complex, now known as theSaint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church (Serbian:Српска православна црква Светог Саве,romanized: Srpska pravoslavna crkva Svetog Save) is a historicEastern Orthodox church located at 15West 25th Street betweenBroadway and theAvenue of the Americas (6th Avenue) in theNoMad neighborhood ofManhattan,New York City. It is under jurisdiction of theSerbian Orthodox Eparchy of Eastern America of theSerbian Orthodox Church and isdedicated toSaint Sava, the firstArchbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The church building was constructed in 1850–55 and was designed by architectRichard Upjohn inEnglish Gothic Revival style.[2] It was built as one of several uptown chapels of theTrinity Church parish, but was sold to the Serbian Orthodox parish in 1942, re-opening as the Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in 1944.
The church complex includes theTrinity Chapel School, now the church'sParish House, which was built in 1860 and was designed byJacob Wrey Mould, apolychromaticVictorian Gothic building which is Mould's only extant structure in New York City.[2] Attached to the sanctuary itself is theClergy House at 26West 26th Street, which was built in 1866 and was designed by Richard Upjohn and his sonRichard M. Upjohn.[3]
The chapel was designated aNew York City landmark in 1968,[4] and the complex was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1982.[1][5]
Most of the church was destroyed in afour-alarm fire on May 1, 2016. As of 2023, reconstruction had advanced enough for a liturgy to be held within the shell of the partially rebuilt church.
With the population of New York City moving ever-northward upManhattan island in the mid-19th century,Trinity Church, the center ofEpiscopalianism in the city, needed to provide for its uptown parishioners, especially in the increasingly sought-after residential neighborhoods aroundUnion andMadison Squares.[2] The church's solution was to build a chapel, named Trinity Chapel, on West 25th Street just off of Madison Square as an uptown annex.[6] The architect selected was Richard Upjohn, who designed the third and current version of Trinity Church, as well as theChurch of the Ascension onFifth Avenue and West10th Street, as well as many other churches in the Gothic Revival mode in the northeast.
The parish was a wealthy and influential one, and Trinity was the only one of Trinity Church's chapels which was capable of supporting itself without assistance from the home church.[6] In 1865 in Trinity Episcopal Church the Orthodox Liturgy was held for the first time in American history.[7] Among the congregants was writerEdith Wharton, who was married in the church in 1885.[3] In 1892, thereredos andaltar were redesigned byFrederick Clarke Withers.[3]
By 1930, as the rich and influential continued their uptown migration, the neighborhood around Madison Square had seriously declined. The chapel was now located within theTenderloin, the city's main entertainment andred light district, and the congregation had dwindled.
ASerbian Orthodox congregation, founded in the 1930s, purchased the building in 1942, with assistance from various Serbian churches, and the building re-opened in 1944 as a Serbian Orthodox church dedicated toSaint Sava, the traditional patron saint of theSerbs. The first pastor was Rev. Dushan Shoulkletovich.[6]Peter II, the last king of Yugoslavia, attended services here.[6]
Gradual changes were made to the sanctuary to make it more Eastern Orthodox in style. A hand-carved oakiconostasis was added in 1962.[6][8] The Byzantine, hand-carved iconostasis, brought from theMonastery of Saint Naum inOhrid, then-Yugoslavia, was placed in the church and blessed.[9]
The icons on the iconostasis were written by Russian iconographer, Ivan Meljinkov.[9]
When a bomb went off near the church on September 4, 1966[10] destroying some of thestained glass, they were replaced with new ones commissioned in Byzantine style.[6][8]
Serbian OrthodoxPatriarch Pavle visited Saint Sava Church in 1992. This was the first time the New York church community was visited by a Patriarch.[9]
Outside the church are busts of BishopNikolaj Velimirović, who was instrumental in founding the parish, helped to organize the Serbian Orthodox Church in America, and was in later years the "luminary-in-residence" at the church;Nikola Tesla, the inventor; andMichael Pupin, a physicist.[3][6]
Prior to the fire of May 1, 2016 around $4 million had been spent on renovations to the church's roof, gutters, and its attached community center.[11] The church's ceiling was repainted during those renovations to depict a nighttime sky.[11]
On May 1, 2016, a massive fire occurred at the church, on the day Orthodox Christians were celebratingEaster, destroying most of the building.[12] The four-alarm fire started at 6:49 p.m. local time and was brought under control by 8:30 p.m.[13] More than 170 firefighters overall were involved.[12][14]
There was one minor injury.[15]
The stone walls of the cathedral remain standing, and have been deemed to be structurally sound and not currently in danger of collapsing.[7][16] Church officials have indicated they will examine whether any part of the structure could be preserved.[17]
The parish house associated with the Saint Sava Church was not harmed by fire.[18]
In 2016 reports were circulating that the city of New York ordered that the remains of the structure be demolished, stating that the walls are too unstable to be allowed to stand.[19] The Buildings Department quickly clarified that the inspection was not complete and they had not ordered the immediate demolition of the building and instead is working with the parish to stabilize the structure.[20][21]
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Saint Sava parishioners reunited a few blocks away the first Sunday after the fire atGramercy Park'sEpiscopal Calvary-St. George's Parish Church to worship.[22][23]
Church officials indicated there will be plans to rebuild at the current site.[22][23] Offers of support, including a letter from Patriarch Bartholomew, have been shared with the parishioners of the church.[24]
Serbia'sForeign MinisterIvica Dačić indicated that the City of New York would be asked through diplomatic channels to aid in the rebuilding of the church. He also indicated Prime MinisterAleksandar Vučić authorized him to say that the government will help rebuild the church, "because it has great significance for the Serbian community and the Serbian spirit in New York."[25]
As of two days after the fire, the definitive cause of the fire had not been determined. Candles that had not been properly extinguished after an Easter service were identified as a likely cause, according to a spokesperson of theNew York City Fire Department (FDNY). A caretaker told fire marshals that he stowed the candles in a cardboard box under a piece of wooden furniture in a rear corner of the 161-year-old church.[26][27]
Nearly a month after the fire FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon indicated conclusively that, "Fire marshals have ... determined that candles, which had not been completely extinguished, caused the fire."[28] It was reported that the city has ordered the remains of the church demolished, calling them unstable.[19] The Buildings Department quickly clarified that the inspection was not complete and they had not ordered the immediate demolition of the building.[20] In August 2016 city Building Department ordered that metal beams be used to shore up the walls and the building be covered with a waterproof canvas to keep it from being damaged further by the elements; this was completed in September 2016.[21]
In May 2018 the parish filed a lawsuit against their insurer Church Mutual for $47M USD.[29] The insurer's payment was $12.7M USD based on the 1945 purchase price and subsequent improvements. The church countered that the payment did not account for present day rebuilding costs, which the church said were $60M USD.[30] The parish and the insurer reached an undisclosed settlement in April 2019.[31] Installation of the new roof over the nave was completed in July 2019.[32] As of November 2019 steel I-beams for the new floor were being installed as well as framing for the windows which will be fitted with temporary acrylic panels.[33] An image captured in March 2020 showed that the building had been enclosed.[34]
On February 7, 2023 the first Divine Liturgy since the fire was held within the shell of the partially rebuilt church.[35]
The exterior is made of heavy blocks of sandstone etched in a rough finish, accented with austere Gothic trim and details. The front façade sits on West 25th Street and faces south. It measures around 65 feet (20 m) in width by roughly 100 feet (30 m) in height. The façade is supported by four stone buttresses, framed by delicate stone turrets at the sides, and punctuated by a large rose window above the entrance.[7]
Prior to the 2016 fire, the church was known to have had one of the largest timberhammerbeam roofs in New York City.[16]
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See also:National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan (Islands,Below 14th St.,14th–59th Sts.,59th–110th Sts.,Above 110th St.) andList of National Historic Landmarks in New York City Note: National Historic Landmarks are not listed separately. | |||||||||||||||
