Completing the Dome ~~ The New Century Campaign

For those of you who have visited Holy Trinity recently you will have noticed that we are undergoing a transformation. When Holy Trinity relocated to Brotherhood Way in 1964, the Pantocrator, or icon of Christ, on the dome within the church was left to complete at some point in the future. It was the dream of Fr. Anthony Kosturos, our late, beloved pastor of blessed memory to complete this project. The drive to complete this project began under the leadership of Fr. Michael Pappas and now, as a parish under the leadership of Fr. James Adams, we are completing the project. The transformation will be truly remarkable.

At a cost of $1.7 million dollars the Pantocrator mosaic will feature the largest mosaic face of Christ in the Western Hemisphere. The face measures 23 feet from the top of the forehead to the chin and will be installed 75 feet above the Church floor. Once complete the interior dome will display an estimated 1.4 million individual, hand cut, glass mosaic tiles. To ensure the longevity of this mosaic a structural support design was meticulously engineered by long-time parishioner, Harry Veizades, P.E. of Veizades & Associates in San Francisco. The construction work is being managed by Nibbi Brothers Construction Company of San Francisco. Nibbi has a successful track record of working with historically significant religious institutions and brings the needed expertise to ensure the utmost quality and worker safety for this project.

Currently the steel substructure is complete and the plaster system is being installed. You can monitor our progress by taking a look at the virtual photo album for the project. Completion of the project is expected in May 2008.

The Pantocrator mosaic is the creation of Bob Andrews, a famous, well known artist who has created mosaics for Holy Trinity and other Greek Orthodox churches for nearly 40 years.

What is the process of creating a mosaic icon? First, Mr. Andrews prepares a color painting using tempera paints. Secondly, he creates a "cartoon", a drawing on paper of the proposed design. These drawings are then sent to a studio in Italy that specializes in preparing the tesserae, the small glass pieces for the mosaic itself. Mr. Andrews sends his order for glass mosaic pieces to Italy, to a studio located in Tuscany about 80 miles from Florence and 120 miles from Rome. It is there, at the Citta d'Arte -- a center and school for smelting and hand-cutting the glass pieces called tesserae – where the spiritual vision begins to take form.

The artisans take drawings by Mr. Andrews and directions for color, and begin to fit the mosaic together. Their guide is a hand painted icon of the panel by Mr. Andrews. In order to adhere to his artistry, they select from over 5,000 different glass tesserae colors. These glass tesserae are carefully set in and glued to the reverse side of his line drawings. When completed, the icon is carefully divided into units for shipping. They are transported to the west coast of Italy by truck, and sent by ship to the United States.

This beautiful mosaic, together with the other mosaics created by Bob Andrews on the walls of the Sanctuary and the Narthex, and the beautiful Vatican mosaic of the Theotokos in the Narthex, will give all who visit an inspiring place of worship.


Holy Trinity is a cultural treasure for the city of San Francisco. Our goal is to preserve the cultural legacy left to us by those brave, pioneering Greeks who came to establish a church in 1904 for the generations that will follow us and for the city of San Francisco.

Donations

We are asking you to be a part of that goal and that vision for the future. So far, we have raised just over $1 million. We are working at completing fundraising for the installation phase of the project. Donations can be made by sending a check to the church at:

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
999 Brotherhood Way
San Francisco, CA 94132
(specify that the check is for the dome project)


You may also make your donation online via PayPal or by major credit card. Donations are tax deductible.