SAINT PHOTIOS GREEK ORTHODOX CHAPEL
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Orthodox chapel decorated with beautiful Byzantine frescoes, dedicated to the first Greek colony to arrive on American soil in 1768
This beautiful Orthodox chapel, all in pristine white, contains beautiful Byzantine frescoes and pays homage to the first Greek colony that settled on American soil in 1768. The colony was named The New Smyrna Colony because most of the Greeks who set out to conquer the American continent were from the city of Smyrna. Florida was under British rule at the time and it was in fact the British who set out to enroll these Mediterranean men and women, thinking that they would be able to stand the heat of Florida to work on a plantation. But the migrants dreamed of freedom in the New World... Of the 1,403 people who embarked, there were Greeks but also Italians and Corsicans! Only 1,255 arrived alive after a long and trying sea voyage. The colony was established 75 miles south of St. Augustine, near Mosquito Inlet, where there was fertile farmland, especially for growing cotton. Very quickly, the newcomers became disillusioned, aware that they were being exploited. Revolts multiplied but were suppressed. In 1769, one year after the establishment of the colony, 450 people lost their lives. In 1777, about 600 migrants finally escaped from the plantation and settled in St. Augustine... In short, don't miss this interesting visit of a little-known episode of the European conquest of the new continent
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Une exposition retraçant l'histoire de la communauté grecque mais aussi méditerranéenne est présente et permet de saisir un peu plus l'histoire de la région et notamment la difficulté de s'y implanter.