Paddington: Greek Orthodox Church

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH.

Following a westward movement of Greek Orthodox families in London, worshippers at the church of Our Saviour, London Wall, moved to the church of St. Sophia (Aghia Sophia), Moscow Road, on which work started in 1877. Under statutes of 1879 the new church was vested in trustees, representing the Greek Orthodox Brotherhood of London. Cathedral status was achieved in 1922, when the see of West and Central Europe was created under the metropolitan of Thyateira, and reorganization assigned it to the exarch of Western and Northern Europe in 1924. (fn. 1) There were Sunday attendances of 179 in 1886 and 141 in 1902. (fn. 2) The building, opened in 1879 (fn. 3) and consecrated in 1882, is an early example of the Byzantine Revival style, designed in red brick, to seat c. 700, by John Oldrid Scott. Not oriented, it is on the plan of a Greek cross and consists of a short nave beneath a central copper dome, with apsidal sanctuary, transepts, and narthex. The interior is of bands of brick and stone, richly decorated with marble and mosaics. The mosaics covering the vaults and dome, to a design by A. G. Walker, were completed in 1893. (fn. 4)