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Detroit has one of the more vibrant Greektown areas in the United States, and is the city’s last Victorian-era streetscapes. It’s home to numerous Greek restaurants and the Hollywood Casino at Greektown.
History
The area that is now Greektown was originally settled by Germans in the 1830s. Greeks started moving in in the 1880s, starting with Theodore Gerasimos, the first documented Greek immigrant in Detroit.
As Greeks started moving out of the neighborhood in the 1920s, the area became more commercial than residential, although several Greek-owned businesses and restaurants remained.
In the 1960s, Greektown began losing its cultural heritage. Community leaders banded together to improved buildings and add streetlights. They threw the first Greek festival in 1966, which was a huge success, and the Greektown Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Monroe Street
The main street through Greektown is Monroe Street. You’ll find several restaurants and stores along the street as well as the massive Greektown Casino complex. The street signs are even in Greek.
I noticed the Santorini Restaurant has original Greek lettering and the year 1949 inscribed above the entrance.
Old St. Mary’s
At the corner of Monroe and St. Antoine is Old St. Mary’s, a church founded in 1835 for German-speaking Catholics of Detroit. It’s the city’s third oldest Catholic church. The current building was completed in 1885.
The interior is gorgeous, with 10 polished granite columns dividing the main and side aisles. Each column was cut from a single piece of granite and were originally intended for the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing.
There’s also a grotto and several beautiful stained windows and sculptures of the Stations of the Cross.
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral
Across the parking lot from Old St. Mary’s is Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral. It was established in 1910, with the original church built in 1913. The current church was completed between 1966 and 1977 due to the construction of a highway on the site of the old church. Unfortunately, the church was closed when we walked by.
Getting There
Greektown is only a short walk northeast of downtown and Campus Martius, and a People Mover stop is also located there.
