Greektown’s Annunciation Cathedral adds office, confessional space and exonarthex

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Lafayette is constructing two additions.

On its south face (pictured), a 50×15′ exonarthex is being built, which, in Greek Orthodox churches, describes the first entrance. Bill Lianos, a member of the executive committee of the church’s council, says, “We wanted to make the front of the church look like something special.” He notes that in the Greek Orthodox tradition, the exterior of the church is kept relatively bland. “You are supposed to be awed by the interior, not the exterior,” he says. Exonarthexes are an exception because of their special usage in Good Friday processions.

On the cathedral’s east side, which faces the I-375 service drive, a 70×15′ addition that will house confessional space and an office is being constructed.

The additions were prompted by a donation from a North Carolina patron. The money was used to renovate three restrooms, which are now luxuriously tiled in granite from floor to ceiling. Lianos explains that two of the restrooms were located below-ground, covered only by a porch that is now being replaced with the exonarthex. He says, “Once the bathrooms were done, it would have been a crime to have them rained upon!”

The original Annunciation was built in 1913; this location was started in 1966 and completed in 1993. Lianos remembers, “It was built little bit by little bit.”

Source: Bill Lianos, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh