History

Saints Anargyroi Greek Orthodox Church of New York City was established by Greek immigrants who settled in the Washington Heights neighborhood of upper Manhattan, consolidating their meager savings to purchase a wooden structure which they remodeled into a house of worship. Ten years after those first informal gatherings, the community observed its first formal religious service together and was incorporated and chartered by the city, giving the parish its official standing as a Greek Orthodox congregation in northern Manhattan.

As the parish expanded through the following decades, the small original building became inadequate for the growing congregation. Land was purchased and a new church constructed and dedicated at 1547 Saint Nicholas Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood, the house of worship that the community has called home ever since. The parish regards itself as a sacred space bequeathed by the founding generation, a gift called to be shared with all who enter, and its members and visitors come from across the New York metropolitan area and from many parts of the country and world.

The parish is dedicated to the Holy Unmercenaries, Saints Cosmas and Damian, the Anargyroi, whose name means those who take no money, the beloved physician-martyrs who healed the sick and suffering without charge as an expression of their Christian faith. Their feast day on November 1 stands as the patronal celebration of the Washington Heights community, connecting a parish in upper Manhattan to one of the most ancient and beloved dedications in the Orthodox tradition.

Saints Anargyroi Greek Orthodox Church at 1547 Saint Nicholas Avenue in Washington Heights serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of upper Manhattan as a parish of the Direct Archdiocesan District of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a welcoming community in one of New York City's most culturally vibrant neighborhoods.