Miami’s oldest Greek Orthodox Cathedral undergoes renovation

After twenty years the church relocated to Coral Way and Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, a beautiful Byzantine basilica, was dedicated in 1949.

“My mother was married here, I was christened and here, I was married here, and my son was christened here. That’s four generations of Greeks in this cathedral,” said Angleton.

Today, the worshippers hail from many countries. “We have many people from Romania, from Russia, from Georgia all orthodox. And we open up our doors to anybody who is seeking the love of Christ and what the orthodox church has to offer,” said Father Spiro Bobotas, the head pastor.

As with all earthly things. with decades of use, the cathedral started showing its age.

From the marble floors to the original chandeliers, all the way up the 60-foot high dome.

“Now, we have found a position where we need to bring this beautiful lady back to where she needs to be,” said Bobotas.

“So, during the pandemic, while offering services online, it seemed like the time for renovation and restoration of the revered site,” he added. “The marble is from Penteli, Greece, from the mines in Penteli, beautiful white marble, we’ve been trying to restore this. The stained glass will be polished and cleaned and the icons have been cleaned, all the icons that you see here whether they’re canvas or mosaics. And the devil is in the details.”

Craftsmanship is key, but an iconographer from Greece could not fly in to do this delicate work due to COVID-19.

Instead, canvasses of the religious icons were created in Greece and shipped. All the meticulous work being done under the attentive eyes of Bobotas.