Cathedral of St. George

St. George Cathedral, the first Albanian Orthodox

in the United States, was founded in 1908

by Archbishop Fran S. Noli. Orthodox Albanians

could at last worship in their own language, a practice

then forbidden in their homeland.

In 1950, the church acquired this edifice, the for-

mer Hawes Unitarian Church, named for John Hawes,

a founder of one of South Boston's oldest religious

groups. Noted architect Samuel J. F. Thayer designed

the High Victorian Gothic structure in 1872. The ex-

quisite icons and hand-carved altar screen of the interior

typify Byzantine sacred art in Albania.