Icon Missing from Florida Church for 100 Years Turns Up on a Back Wall in Another Country

An Orthodox icon missing from a Florida church for over a century made an unexpected appearance at a church in Greece.

Mayor John Koulianos of Tarpon Springs, Florida, was on vacation in Greece when he encountered the lost icon of St. Nicholas on the island of Aegina, according to a report from WTVT.

Immigrants from the island had given the painting to Florida’s St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in 1910. After a fire in 1923, the painting was sent back to Aegina for restoration.

But the icon, which was created in the days of the Byzantine Empire, never made it back across the Atlantic.

However, during his vacation, Koulianos met with the mayor of Aegina, and the official called a local priest who remembered where the icon had been left.

The icon was found on the back wall of Panagitsa Church.

Tarpon Springs’ St. Nicholas icon was sent to Greece in 1923. Mayor wants it back https://t.co/hHUrsca9xT

— Tampa Bay Times (@TB_Times) September 20, 2026

“On our vacation to Europe in July, I made a special trip to Aegina to arrange for the completion of the twinning ceremony as well as attempting to locate the icon for its return to Tarpon Springs,” Koulianos wrote on Facebook, per a report from The Christian Post.

“I believe I may have been successful in achieving both goals.”

Koulianos told WTVT that the icon is “about the size of maybe like a movie poster, it’s about this big, a little bit too big to put in a suitcase.”

“I was thinking about that, and maybe I could just grab it, and that wasn’t going to happen,” he added.

The Christian Post reported that it’s unclear whether Greek Orthodox Church officials will authorize the return of the icon to Tarpon Springs.

But Koulianos certainly wants the St. Nicholas icon back in Florida.

“We are also working on completing a reunion over 100 years in the making. Bringing a special icon of St. Nicholas back to our St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tarpon Springs,” Koulianos continued.

“With the blessing of our Metropolitan Sebastian, along with the assistance of our parish priest, Father Aristides, we are hopeful to make this a reality.”

Beyond returning the icon, Koulianos is working with his Greek counterpart to create a sister city relationship between Tarpon Springs and Aegina.

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