6. The Items from St. Nicholas Orthodox Church That Remain Intact

Chaos swept the city on that Tuesday in 2001. Thousands lost their lives to the awful terrorist attacks of September 11th. No one was in St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox church that day, so thankfully some lives were spared. Despite the extreme damage done to the church, the area left in shambles, a few important items remained intact.

One of those was the wooden kouvouklion, a bier that represents the tomb of Jesus used on Good Friday services. An icon showing Christ being taken down from the cross was also salvaged. These items were very meaningful to the members of the church, and allowed them to keep something from their fallen place of worship. The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Shrine will house a new kouvouklion, in honor of Father Romas.

Unfortunately however, many of other priceless artifacts, which include relics of St. Nicholas, St. Sava and St. Catherine which were donated to the church by the Tsar Nicholas II were lost on 9/11.