The Greek Orthodox Church

Walking up Carlton Hill on a sunny winter’s day on my way to Queens Park, I stopped in front of the Greek Orthodox Church; it’s another bit of Brighton’s heritage tucked away out of sight from busy main roads and tourist crowds. I stood for a moment taking pleasure in the unpretentious stuccoed southern frontage of this Grade ll listed building. In the centre of the facade is a large rectangular recess, acting as a kind of loggia, where stands a figure of Christ on a large crucifix; it is over twice the height of the entrance doors. Both doors have small pediments on Doric pilasters.

Above the left pediment is the personal monogram of L.A. Mackintosh, who was responsible for the improvement, in 1957, of the Georgian-style front elevation – I smiled at the thought that personal aggrandizement has always been important to artists who feel a need to leave a legacy.

Coming out of the open doors was the sound of the Divine Liturgy; curiosity pulled me into an atmosphere, ancient and heady with incense. Before me was a magnificent Iconostasis that acts as a link between heaven and earth, a screen showing sacred images that guide followers into the Holy of Holies (God’s immediate and direct presence among the people). As a non-believer I lingered only for a short while; I left with a feeling of losing myself, for a moment, in another world.

I thought to myself, as I went on my way up Carlton Hill, “Yes, this is the value of heritage, it transports you into our history, a history that is still alive”. As I looked back across the city at all the new buildings punching their way upwards to the sky I thought it’s hard to imagine how these buildings, with their dull cladding and bereft of interesting architectural embellishments, can be our future heritage.