Cathedral of Sts. Constantine and Helen

The Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helen is a historical Greek Orthodox Church in Johannesburg, designed by architect Hermann Kallenbach and built in 1912.^[1] It is a SAHRA protected site.

Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helen
Greek Orthodox Church in Hillbrow
26.194167°S 28.0511°E / -26.194167; 28.0511
Country	South Africa
Denomination	Greek Orthodox
Architecture
Architect(s)	Hermann Kallenbach
Style	Byzantine
Completed	1912 (Opened 5 January 1913)
Construction cost	£3,300

Description

Plaques

The white walled church was designed by Hermann Kallenbach who was a close friend and admirer of Mahatma Gandhi. (Kallenbach lived in the same house and donated a farm to Gandhi). The church was required by the growing population of Greeks who had moved to Yeoville and Berea in the 19th century.^[1] The community took six years to raise the £3,300 for the building led by the Ladies Benevolent Association, Archimandrite Nicodemos Sarikas^[2] and Archimandrite Athanasios Nicolopoulos.^[3]

Kallenbach created a church in the Byzantine style^[3] in 1912 for the Greek community with a number of different roof levels which were not designed to be at the same angle. These complement the large three-storey high dome which is painted blue on the inside.^[1] The new building opened on 5 January 1913. The cathedral is dedicated to the emperor Saint Constantine and his mother Saint Helen.^[3]

Today the Greek congregation is reducing and the congregation are now drawn from a much wider area with this being one of three Greek Orthodox churches in the city. The church is a South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) protected site.^[1]

References

1. "City of Johannesburg Heritage". Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
2. History, The Hellenic Community, hellenic.co.za. Retrieved 22 August 2014
3. 2014 plaque, Wikimania commons. Retrieved 22 August 2014