History

The Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Chapel of Storrs, Connecticut holds a distinction unique in American higher education: it is the first and only Greek Orthodox church built on the campus of an American state university, situated at 28 Dog Lane on the grounds of the University of Connecticut. The chapel opened in 1995, erected in an authentic Byzantine style whose interior was adorned with icons and frescoes painted by artists from Greece, creating within the Storrs campus a house of Orthodox Christian worship that reflects the architectural and iconographic tradition of the Eastern Church in its fullest expression.

The chapel is a constituent part of the Center for Hellenic Studies Paideia at the University of Connecticut, one of the most distinctive academic and religious partnerships in New England. The adjacent Makedonia building, constructed in 1997, houses courses in Greek and Byzantine language, history, and culture, making the complex together the first and only Greek Orthodox church and Center for Hellenic Studies at any American state university, a landmark achievement in the integration of Hellenic Orthodox heritage into American university life.

The chapel serves the Orthodox Christian community of the UConn campus, welcoming students, faculty, and visitors from the broader Storrs and Mansfield communities who come seeking the ancient liturgical and sacramental tradition of the Eastern Church. It stands as a bridge between the intellectual life of the university and the spiritual life of the Orthodox Christian faith, embodying the inseparability of Hellenic culture and Orthodox Christianity that has characterized the Greek world for two thousand years.

The Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Chapel at 28 Dog Lane in Storrs serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of the University of Connecticut community as a chapel of the Direct Archdiocesan District of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.