History

More than a century ago, on the far north shore of Massachusetts, Greek immigrant families in the Ipswich area gathered together with the faith and courage to found a small Greek Orthodox church. The original church was built in 1907, establishing a community of worship for the Greek families who had made their home in the coastal communities of Essex County.

In 1934, a devastating fire destroyed the original 1907 church building. Undaunted by the loss, the community rebuilt, and the church that rose from that rebuilding stands at the same location to this day, a direct expression of the resilience and determination of the founding families who refused to let their parish be extinguished. The present church building has served the faithful of the Ipswich area through the decades that followed, its continuity on the same site connecting the present community to the very beginnings of Greek Orthodox life on the North Shore.

In 1966 the parish made another significant step forward, purchasing the Hellenic Community Center, known as Floriana, a historic estate on Route 1A in Ipswich whose picturesque grounds on the North Shore of Boston have provided a beloved gathering place for the community's many ministries, organizations, and events for more than half a century. The annual Ipswich Greek Festival, held on the Floriana grounds, draws visitors from across the North Shore to share in traditional Greek food, music, dance, and Hellenic hospitality.

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church at 8 Lafayette Road in Ipswich serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of the North Shore communities of Essex County as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.