How A Gulf Sponge Town Became The Most Greek City In America

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Welcome to another episode of Hidden Gems found in Florida's West Coast. My name is Michael Rennick and I am your host for this video. Every January 6th, dozens of teenage boys throw themselves into the cold water of Spring Bayou in Tarpon Springs, racing to grab a cross off the bottom. And whoever comes up with it wears a gold cross for the rest of his life. His name inscribed on a statue outside St. Nicholas Cathedral.

[00:00:24]That's not a tourist stunt. That is the largest Greek Epiphany celebration in the Western Hemisphere, running unbroken since 1906. Here's how a Gulf sponge town became the most Greek city in America. In 1905, John Cocoris recruited skilled divers from Greece's Dodecanese Islands to work the Gulf sponge beds.

[00:00:43]They were extraordinary at it. For a time, sponges actually outstripped citrus as Florida's main export. The community those divers built is still here. The sponge docks on Dodecanese Boulevard, the Greek bakeries and restaurants, the cathedral that looks like it was shipped in from Athens.

[00:01:00]More than one in 10 residents today claims Greek descent, the highest percentage of any American city. Every January 6th, the archbishop throws the cross, a white dove gets released, and boys ages 16 to 18 dive. That tradition is 120 years old. Next time you're near Tampa Bay in early January, go see it.

[00:01:20]Thank you for watching another episode of Hidden Gems found in Florida's West Coast.