Rendering of the new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Shrine at the World Trade Center, designed by Santiago Calatrava

Sixteen years have passed since the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, which caused the loss of almost 3,000 lives. The City of New York has since taken initiative – aiming to restore and rebuild what had been destroyed by rebuilding some of the city’s greatest monuments and redeveloping the area. One of the building destroyed that day St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

A shrine is being built in its honor at a nearby location, and is expected to be complete by the spring of 2018. Here is a look back at the history and secrets of St. Nicholas Church and the latest photographs of the construction of the new shrine.

1. St. Nicholas Church Was the Only House of Worship Destroyed on 9/11

The collapse of North Tower (1 World Trade Center) and the South Tower (2 World Trade Center) resulted in the collapse of over a dozen nearby structures. St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, located at 155 Cedar Street, was the only house of worship to be destroyed by the attacks. This place of worship, home to a congregation of about seventy families, was crushed following the collapse of the South Tower at 10 am on September 11th and was also the only building that was not part of the World Trade Center complex that was completely destroyed.