A religious painting from Tarpon Springs’ St. Nicholas Greek Cathedral has been found hanging in a church in Greece, more than a century after it was sent there for restoration. City officials are awaiting approval from Florida Greek Orthodox officials to bring it back.
A group of immigrants from the Greek island of Aegina gave the painting to the church in 1910. It was damaged in a fire and sent to Greece in 1923 for restoration, but was never returned.
Mayor John Koulianos said he located it during a July visit after Aegina’s mayor called a local priest who knew where it was. Koulianos also traveled to finalize arrangements for a ceremony to make Tarpon Springs and Aegina twin cities, and said he believed he may have succeeded in both aims.
