Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

True to its architectural heritage, the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Maitland, Florida incorporates the spirit and Byzantine detail of the early Greek Orthodox churches. The structure’s vaulting is based on traditional architectural proportions that were first created for the Parthenon in Rome, and copied centuries later by Thomas Jefferson in his design of a rotunda at the University of Virginia. The church casts a striking appearance with a pale stucco exterior crowned with a dome and bright orange-tile roof. Its composition of fifteen different sections on various levels is the result of stepping down the scale of the building from the 35-foot ridge height in order to achieve a human scale with the structure. The interior is ornate and traditional, with paintings and icons covering ceilings and walls, and a dome resting dramatically on four posts that symbolize heaven and earth. Pendentive arches at the base of the dome represent the four Gospel writers: Matthew, Luke, Mark and John. A grouping of three arches signifies the Trinity, while twelve high windows represent the twelve Apostles. The iconographers, who were trained classically in Crete, stated that this was the first time they had worked on a church in the United States which permitted them to use the classic iconographic proportions in which they were trained.