The city

Glossary (6)

thermae or baths: public or private baths that first appeared during the Roman period, later adopted by the Byzantines
five-nave basilica: basilica with five naves.
Paleo-Christian (early Christian) era: in Byzantine history, the period that typically starts in 330 AD, when Constantine the Great transferred the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to his newly-founded city of Constantinople, and ends with the death of Justinian in 565.
cistern: reservoir for collecting water. Usually rectangular in shape and roofed with arches.
chapel: small sized church, either independent, belonging to a religious foundation, or part of a larger church. In Byzantium chapels were often used for burials.
Empire of Nicaea: One of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire established by the Byzantine aristocracy following the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade in April 1204. Founded by Theodore Lascaris, whose successors recaptured Constantinople in 1261.

Information Texts (10)

The city: Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, was built on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium, on the triangular peninsula formed by the Golden Horn, the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. This was an excellent location that controlled trade routes linking the Aegean to the Black Sea. Emperor Constantine founded Constantinople in 330 AD as a city to rival Rome in splendour, wealth and power. The city grew fast, leading to problems of space and facilities, so Theodosius I extended it to the west by building new strong walls that protected Constantinople until the end of the Byzantine Empire. The city was laid out after Rome. A main road, the Mese Odos, linked the palace to the Golden Gate. On this road was the Forum, a circular plaza with a statue of Constantine mounted on a column, surrounded by public buildings. Theodosius I and Arcadius later built more forums decorated with their own statues. Following the Nika riots in the 6th century, Justinian adorned Constantinople with magnificent edifices, palaces, baths and public buildings. This time also saw the construction of Agia Sophia (the Holy Wisdom), the church which served as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate throughout the Byzantine period. During the 7th and 8th centuries Constantinople faced major problems that threw it into disarray: attacks by the Avars (a siege in 674) and Arabs (attacks in 674 and 717-718); natural disasters (a powerful, destructive earthquake in 740); and epidemics (plague in 747). Limited building activity resumed in the 8th and 9th century, mainly concentrated on strengthening the city's fortifications. With the recovery of the Byzantine Empire from the 9th to the 11th century, Constantinople became the most populated city in Christendom; the majority of inhabitants were Greek-speaking, but many other ethnic groups lived alongside them, such as Jews, Armenians, Russians, Italians merchants, Arabs and mercenaries from Western Europe and Scandinavia. Many public, private and church-owned buildings were erected at the time, with an emphasis on establishing charitable institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages and schools. Higher education flourished, thanks to the care of the state and the emergence of important scholars. This renaissance lasted until the mid-11th century, when economic problems due to poor management set in, compounded by the adverse outcome of imperial operations beyond the borders. The Crusaders left Constantinople entirely unscathed when first passing through, but in the Fourth Crusade of 1204 the Franks conquered and ransacked the city, slaughtering those inhabitants they did not take prisoner or drive out. In 1261 the city was retaken by Michael VIII Palaeologus, who rebuilt most of the monuments and the walls but proved unable to restore the city to its former splendour and glory. Enfeebled as it was, the empire was incapable of checking the advance of the Ottomans, and in 1453 Constantinople finally fell into their hands. The fall signalled the end of the empire. Nevertheless, the Byzantine intellectual tradition remained significant, as many scholars settled in the Venetian dominions of Crete and the Peloponnese, as well as in European countries, conveying Greek learning to the West.
Sports (Hippodrome): Sports in Byzantium were seen in a totally different way in comparison with the ancient greek world: young people were not engaged systematically with sports, sports ceased to function as a means of education, and the games turned into pure spectacle. In the 2nd-1st century BC athletes were professionals, who demonstrated their skills in the games and were paid for it receiving a salary. The games were often not fair: the umpires and judges could get bribed and set up the games. After Theodosius I established Christianity as the official religion of the Empire (381 AD), all games that retained pagan elements such as Olympia (394 AD) were abolished. The Church Fathers and the ecclesiastic writers condemned in their writings the nakedness of mimes, who appeared naked on the scene making fun of the Christian ceremonies and the witnesses of faith. However, the Fathers encouraged the care of the body for health reasons. From the Justinian Code (529 AD) we learn that the permitted events were: wrestling, high jump, long jump and javelin. Traditional sports venues, such as the stadium, the gymnasium and the palaestra continued to be in use during the first Christian centuries, but when the economic problems began to arise, from the 6th century onwards, these spaces were left without maintenance, resulting in their abandonment and ruins. Hippodrome The hippodrome was a large open-air building for spectacles and chariot races, that resembled the ancient greek stadium. Rome had the largest and oldest hippodrome, while these type of buildings also existed in Constantinople and other big cities of the empire, such as Alexandria, Antioch, Carthage and Thessaloniki. The chariot races were held at fixed dates, on Sundays and major religious festivals. Races were also held on the occasion of various official celebrations, such as the official nomination of a new king, the royal birthday, the palace weddings etc. The hippodrome also gave people the opportunity to publicly express their views on the policy of the emperor: they cheered him when there were happy or stated their dissatisfaction demanding satisfaction of their demands. The Hippodrome of Constantinople was founded in the late 2nd century by Septimius Severus imitating the one of Rome. It was restored by Constantine the Great in the early 4th century and it operated until the 12th century. It had a horseshoe shape, with two long sides. The openings, constructed on one end of the building, closed with doors with bars; these were the starting point of the chariots. The opposite end had a closed shape and it was where the chariots turned. An oblong obstacle, the Euripus, was placed in the middle of the track, dividing the space in two parts. Euripus was surrounded by a ditch with water. Offerings and sculptures for timing and counting laps were placed on the Euripus, while flexors, which were the boundaries that marked the turning point for the chariots, were placed on its edges. The spectators sat at the stands on both sides of the track as well as at the curve. Ancillary areas (stables, warehouses, storage of floats, preparation areas, etc.) were placed under at the stands, while at the top, a corridor with columns connected by arches offered a panoramic view of the city. In the middle of the long side of the hippodrome the Seat was built, the special royal gallery from where the emperor, isolated from the surrounding stands, used to watch the races. The Seat had banquet halls and resting rooms for the emperor, the officials and the courtiers. On the eve of the races a piece of cloth was hang at the gate of the hippodrome by the demes announcing that the next day racings will be held. The final series of the chariot races was decided with an officially draw taking place at the afternoon of the same day. Nobody worked on the days of the races: shops, workshops, shipyards, everything was closed, and people of all classes, even the clergy, went to the hippodrome. When the emperor appeared on his Seat after the cheering, he raised his hand which was holding a white linen cloth; the falling of the cloth was the sing permitting the beginning of the chariot races. Of the four chariots appearing on the field, one from each deme, the winner was the chariot that first completed seven full rounds around the Euripus. Eight chariot races were held during the day, four in the morning and four in the afternoon. Meanwhile an intermission between the races gave to the spectators the opportunity to dine and be entertained by groups of dancers, actors, mimes, acrobats and tamers of wild animals. These spectacles intended to keep the public's interest and avoid potentially violent manifestations. The four groups, the demes, taking part in the chariot races were sports clubs, with particularly significant power and influence on the people of the capital. Their names, Greens, Blues, White and Rousseau (red), derived from the distinctive color of clothing that their charioteer was wearing. Demes had their own horses, chariots, facilities and personnel as veterinarians and notaries for making records and keeping the accounts, people for keeping archives, poets for writing the slogans of the races, musical instruments and musicians. Demes were responsible for the acquisition and maintenance of horses, the payment of the charioteers and the distribution of tickets. They also had a parallel social and political presence: their members helped each other, assisted in the construction of public works or participated, if it was necessary, in the defence of the capital. Other medieval events Popular sport of the imperial court and the aristocracy was tzikanion, probably imported from Persia. It was played in open court, where players on horseback were trying with long sticks to hit a ball and score. Other popular games among the aristocracy of the period were tornemes and tzostra imported from the West and played according to the rules of the knightly encounters. In tzostra, a man with a helmet riding a horse and holding a shield and a spear was trying to throw his opponent off the horse while in tornemes, a sport of similar philosophy, the encounter occurred between two groups of horsemen confronting each other.
The Rotonda (church of Agios Georgios): The Rotonda owes its name to its round shape. Located in the eastern part of the historic centre of Thessalonica, a short distance north of the Via Egnatia, it was founded around 300 AD and is thus one of the oldest monuments in the city. Part of the complex built by Galerius, it lies on the same axis as the Arch of Galerius, the palace and the Hippodrome. Although its original function remains unclear, it is believed to have been a mausoleum for its founder or - according to the dominant view - a place of worship dedicated to Zeus or the Cabeiri. It has also recently been suggested that the building was the mausoleum of Constantine the Great. The Rotonda is a centrally planned building, with an internal diameter of 24.50m covered with a brick dome rising to 29.80m. The interior is divided into eight oblong recesses ending in semi-domes. The southernmost of these faces the Arch of Galerius and the palace, and served as the main entrance. The piers had shallow conches resembling chapels, as their fronts had pillars that supported an arc or a triangular pediment. The monument was converted into a Christian church in the early Christian period, though precisely when it changed name and function is not known. It was then that alterations and additions were made to the original building, affecting its stability and architectural coherence. The east conch was enlarged and widened and the sanctuary was built in the form of a rectangular room with semicircular apse to the east; a closed portico was also erected around the Roman core of the building, but probably destroyed by earthquakes in the early 7th century. A new entrance with a narthex was opened in the west conch, and a propylon added to the south conch, with a round chapel to the east and an octagonal one to the west. It is believed that this work was carried out between the end of the 4th century and the early 6th century, most likely during the reign of Theodosius the Great (379-395 AD). The dominant view is that the church was consecrated to the Incorporeal Saints, as attested in written sources by the name of the adjoining gate in the city walls and the neighbourhood around the church. None of the early Christian additions apart from the eastern conch have survived. When the building was converted into a church, the lower surfaces of the inside walls were dressed with marble revetments, below exquisite mosaics by a renowned artistic workshop. The subjects depicted in the recession vaults and skylights are purely decorative in nature, displaying an impressive variety of plant and geometric motifs, birds, baskets of fruit, flowers, intersecting circles and squares. The dome has large compositions arranged in three zones, believed to depict the triumphant appearance of Christ as Heavenly King. The lower zone is wider and divided into eight separate panels, of which the east was destroyed when part of the dome collapsed. The remaining panels retain the original mosaics depicting people (probably martyrs) praying, like an illustrated calendar of saints’ days, in front of two-storey buildings with multiple openings and complex structure, reminiscent of theatre facades and the tombs of Arabia Petraea. The middle zone contained depictions of apostles, though only their feet have survived. All that remains in the upper zone is the heads of three of the four angels supporting a mandorla of stars and a wreath with leafs and fruit. In their midst is the mythical phoenix, standing out on a radiant red disk. The complex meaning of the decor culminates in the centre of the mandorla, where there are traces of the original design of a triumphant Christ shown in full figure, outlined in charcoal at the top of the dome. A different interpretation of the decoration holds that the representations are associated with imperial iconography in late antiquity, in which case they may have been created in the 4th century as part of the monument’s conversion into the third mausoleum of Constantine the Great. In the late 9th century the apse in the sanctuary was decorated with a wall painting of the Ascension stylistically reminiscent of the mosaic version in Agia Sophia. The two surviving sections of the exquisite marble pulpit in the Rotonda are now in the Archaeological Museum at Istanbul, while the base still stands near the church’s south entrance, where it was found during excavations in 1918. It is shaped like an open fan and decorated with scenes from the Adoration of the Magi that are unique among early Christian pulpits. After the conversion of Agia Sophia into a mosque, the church was probably used as the cathedral of Thessalonica from 1523/24 up until its conversion in 1590/91. In its current form the Ottoman period alterations are still visible: the minaret and fountain to the west of the church; the porticoes at the west and south entrances; and various repairs. The name Agios Georgios is derived from the chapel dedicated to the same saint a short distance to the west, where the church vessels were stored after the Rotonda was converted into a mosque.
Constantine the Great : Roman emperor from 324 to 337. Born in Naissus c. 272 to Roman Caesar Constantius I Chlorus and Helena. Constantine received military training, took part in campaigns alongside his father and attained the rank of tribuno, head of the imperial bodyguards. After a series of conflicts in which he eliminated all his opponents, he ascended the throne in 324. As sole emperor, Constantine reorganized the administrative and military system, changed the currency and founded Constantinople, which he made new capital of the empire (330). A perceptive man who realized the growing power of the new religion, he lent subtle support to Christianity, and signed the Edict of Milan in 313, establishing the principles of religious tolerance. He took an active part in religious debates and convened the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which proved crucial to the development of the Christian Church. Through these actions, and above all by supporting Christians and transferring the capital to Constantinople, he was in essence responsible for shaping the future course of the Byzantine Empire.
Goths: German tribe that probably came from Scandinavia. Around the 1st century they migrated south along the Vistula River to settle in Scythia (modern Ukraine). In the 3rd century they were divided into the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths. Several Goth generals seem to have gained considerable influence in the Byzantine imperial court, to the discontent of the aristocracy and the people. Early in the 5th century a large-scale massacre of soldiers in Constantinople aimed to exclude the Goths from army ranks. This eventually cost the empire dearly, as it was deprived of particularly skilful military personnel.
Theodosius I : Roman emperor from 379 to 395. Later also known as the Great, Theodosius was the last ruler of the combined Eastern and Western Roman Empire. He himself divided the empire to secure an imperial throne for each of his sons, Arcadius and Honorius. Having successfully warded off barbarian invasions, he left the state to his successors with the same borders as those laid down by Constantine the Great. He was an advocate of Christianity, which he helped to spread throughout the Empire, circumventing the famous Edict of Milan. His strict religious policy outlawed ancient cults. When Theodosius died in January 395, he bequeathed his empire to his two sons: the eastern part to Arcadius and the western one to Honorius.
The church of Agios Demetrios : The Church of Saint Demetrius, patron saint of Thessalonica, lies in the historic city centre, where the street of the same name bisects an imaginary line extending from Aristotelous Street. In Roman times the site was taken up by a large bathhouse, at the east end of which is the present day Crypt, on the spot where tradition holds that Saint Demetrios was martyred. After the Edict of Milan the faithful built a small house of worship there. Leontius, Prefect of Illyricum, erected a basilica in the same place in 412, transferring the saint’s grave to a ciborium in the main nave. Originally silver, the ciborium was later replaced by a marble version containing an urn, in all likelihood a cenotaph, and an icon depicting the saint. The fifth century basilica is unlikely to have differed greatly from the present church; its precise form remains unknown, as it burnt down shortly after a major earthquake in 620. It was rebuilt in a remarkably short time, under the supervision of the Bishop of Thessalonica and Leon the Prefect, resulting in a church very similar to that seen today. Even in Byzantine times Saint Demetrios’ renown went far beyond the city limits, for he was credited with protecting Thessalonica against enemy raids. So it was that the celebrations held in honour of the saint’s feast day in October drew pilgrims from many countries in Europe and Asia. In 1493 the church was converted into a mosque, leaving the Christians only a small area in the northwest, where the saint’s cenotaph was moved. In 1912 the building was restored to Christian worship, but suffered extensive damage in the great fire that swept through a large area of the upper city in 1917. The restoration work that followed was completed in 1949. During the work the Crypt was restored, and now houses an exhibition on the monument’s evolution over time. In its present form the church is a prime example of an early 7th century five-nave basilica with transept. Of particular interest is the surviving mosaic decoration which, though fragmented, includes works of great historical and artistic value, illustrating the evolution of Byzantine art in the early Christian period and beyond. There are capitals of many different types, styles and technical development; cornices; marble revetments; opus sectile panels, of which few examples now survive; the marble funerary monument of Luke Spantounis (a fine example of Venetian Renaissance art); mosaic votive representations; offerings from ordinary citizens or city officials; and a small number of wall paintings. Only nine of the mosaics survived the fire of 1917 – these are to be found on the two large pillars in front of the altar and the west wall of the nave, covering the period from the 5th to the 9th century. According to an inscription, the mosaic on the south pillar depicts Agios Demetrios between the bishop of the city and Prefect Leon (sponsors of the church renovation). Of the few surviving wall paintings, that on the south church wall is of historical significance. It depicts an emperor entering the city on horseback, identified by scholars as either Justinian II (7th-8th century) or Basil II (11th cent.) The first pillar in the south colonnade bears a depiction of Agios Demetrios and a prelate in smaller scale holding a censer, identified as Gregorios Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica. The painting dates to 1360-1380 and relates to 14th century theological disputes and the Hesychasm movement in Thessalonica, concerning experiential prayer. Abutting the east side of the south wing of the transept is the Middle Byzantine chapel of Agios Euthymius, in the form of a small basilica. According to an inscription, the chapel murals were sponsored in 1302-1303 by Michael Ducas Tarchaneiotes Glavas, founder of the Pammakaristos Monastery in Constantinople, and his wife Maria Palaeologina. The murals are representative of Palaeologan art and are stylistically very close to the murals in the Protaton on Mount Athos, which have been attributed to the painter Manuel Panselinos.
The cathedral church of Agia Sophia: The Cathedral Church of Agia Sophia, dedicated to the Holy Wisdom and the Word of God, lies within the old walled core of the historic city, a short distance south of Egnatia Street. In 10th and 13th century texts it is referred to as the Great Church, or the Catholic Metropolis (i.e. baptismal cathedral) or the Metropolis. During the Frankish occupation of Thessalonica (1204-1224) the church was temporarily converted into a Latin-rite cathedral, but following the restoration of Byzantine rule it became seat of the city’s Orthodox bishop once more. That until 1523/1524, when it was converted into a mosque. It was restored to Christian worship after the liberation of Thessalonica. The existing church was built in the 8th century, over the remains of a 5th century five-naved Episcopal basilica destroyed by earthquake in around 620. That had in turn been erected on the site of a 4th century basilica, most probably with three naves, which was gutted by fire in the second quarter of the 5th century. The present day building can be classified as a transitional domed cruciform church with peristyle, itself a development of the domed basilica. Combined with the construction date, this peculiarity renders Agia Sophia in Thessalonica one of the most important Byzantine period church buildings. Its present form, which is the result of successive additions and modifications, remains true to the original bulky yet monumental character, supplemented in the interior by Byzantine mosaics, wall paintings and marble revetments. All that survives of the sculpted decoration inside the church are the columns and capitals in the north colonnade of the ground floor, which were probably spolia from the earlier basilica on top of which Agia Sophia was built. The church mosaics date to various periods. The nonfigurative decoration in the sanctuary vault dates to 780-788, as evidenced by the cruciform monograms of Emperor Constantine VI and his mother Irene of Athens, and the inscription mentioning Bishop Theophilus of Thessalonica. Part of the same nonfigurative decoration was the large cross in the sanctuary niche, traces of which can be seen over the halo and beside the shoulders of Mary. The mosaic representation of the Virgin Mary is problematic as regards date. The lower part was previously held to be the oldest (9th century), with the upper one dating to a later phase, in the 11th or 12th century. More recent studies have shown that the main body does not differ from the lower section, so it has been argued that the scene is contemporary with that in the dome. The large monumental representation of the Ascension in the centre of the dome dates to the end of the 9th century, most probably to 885, if we accept that the Archbishop Paul mentioned in an inscription in the decorative band surrounding the subject is to be identified as the like-named Metropolitan of Thessalonica, who had ties with Ecumenical Patriarch Photios. The scene depicts Christ at the centre of a circular mandorla supported by flying angels; lower down at the base of the dome is a rendition of olive trees in a rocky landscape, where the figures of the apostles are walking. The Virgin Mary can be seen among them, flanked by two archangels pointing towards the Divine Presence in the heavens. The frescoes in the arcs of the west narthex wall date to the 11th century. Figures of monks are still visible, together with local saints from Thessalonica such as Agia Theodora. The painted decoration imitating marble revetments owes its existence to repairs carried out during the Ottoman period. The building was damaged by fire in 1890, and restored by Charles Diehl in 1907-1909. Yet it was the impact of the 1978 earthquakes that led to systematic study and maintenance, both vital steps in bringing to the fore what is a very special monument, a part of World Cultural Heritage and an important place of worship in present-day Thessalonica.
Τhe church of Panagia Chalkeon: The Church of Panagia Chalkeon (the Virgin Mary of the Coppersmiths) lies near the intersection of Egnatia and Aristotle Street, in an area taken up from antiquity by coppersmiths workshops. According to the inscription on the lintel of the west entrance, the church was erected in 1028 on the site of a pagan sanctuary by Christopher, Protospatharios and Catepano (Commander) of Longobardia, his wife Mary and his children Nicephorus, Anna and Katakali. The founder’s tomb is in an arcosolium in the middle of the north wall. The church is of particular architectural and morphological interest. It is a composite four-column cross-in-square church with a central dome and two further domes at the ends of the two-storey narthex, and a sanctuary with a three-sided apse to the east. It is built of alternating layers of thin and thick brick (using the so-called recessed brick technique), with the thinner, recessed layers covered in mortar to create alternating red (brick) and white (mortar) surfaces. Morphological features that lend the monument intense plasticity include slender domes, pediments, blind arches, brick half columns, arched ends, and successive openings and conches, all contributing to harmonious spatial composition and carefully balanced proportions. A marble cornice runs around the church; below this on the south side are clay tablets decorated with kufic ornaments to form a frieze. The columns in the church are crowned with tectonic capitals bearing cord-shaped ornaments on the edges, and circular frames with crosses, rosettes and whirls of fire on the sides. According to an inscription on the intrados of the sanctuary arch that mentions the same sponsor, the greater part of the painted decoration was carried out when the church was first erected. The iconographic programme includes scenes from the Christological cycle in the nave (Nativity, Presentation, Adoration of the Magi, Pentecost), with the Ascension in the dome. The sanctuary has a depiction of the Platytera (Virgin of the Sign), together with full face portraits of prelates and the Communion of the Apostles. The Second Coming is depicted in the narthex. The original decoration in parts of the north and south walls and on the west side seems to have been replaced in the Paleologan period. All that remains of the paintings are remnants of the Assumption, the Akathist Hymn and some individual saints. In Ottoman times the church became a mosque, but was restored to Christian worship thereafter. It suffered major earthquake damage in 1933, but was completely restored before World War II. Damage caused by quakes in 1978 led to a new series of restorations from 1980 onwards.
The church of Agioi Apostoloi: Agioi Apostoloi (the Church of the Holy Apostles) is located in the western part of the historic centre of Thessaloniki, near the west wall and the now destroyed Litaia Gate. The church was the catholicon of a monastery. Surviving structures include part of the once imposing tower-shaped portal to the southwest, and a large cistern to the northwest, the size of which attests to the large number of monks living there, and by extension to the monastery’s wealth. According to tradition, the church takes its name from the popular belief that it had a twelve-domed roof symbolizing the apostles, though the subject matter of the frescoes in the peristyle reveals that it must initially have been dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The catholicon was built from 1310 to 1314 under the sponsorship of Patriarch Niphon I, as attested by the inscription above the entrance, the monograms on the capitals of the west facade and the ceramoplastic inscriptions on the west and south sides. The second founder referred to is Paul, abbot and former pupil of Niphon, who is depicted praying before the Virgin Mary above the entrance leading from the narthex to the nave. Circa 1520-1530 the monastery was converted into a mosque. The mosaics and frescoes were covered with plaster once the gold background tesserae had been carefully removed. The building was restored to Christian worship following the liberation of Thessaloniki in 1912. The Holy Apostles is a composite cross-in-square church with a narthex and Π shaped peristyle. This ends in two chapels to the east, and has four low domes in the corners. The east side is dominated by the large seven-sided sanctuary niche, flanked by smaller three-sided conches forming the Prothesis and the Diaconicon. The exterior features finely constructed elements typical of Paleologan architecture (numerous arches, conches and brick half columns). Inside, refined proportions combined with a variety of morphological elements make for a superbly balanced and sophisticated composition. Remains of the interior decoration include mosaics and frescoes of exceptional historical and artistic value. The mosaics were sponsored by Patriarch Niphon, who apparently intended to decorate the lower sections with marble revetments. The Pantocrator is depicted in the central dome, surrounded by ten full-length prophets. Lower down, the figures of the four Evangelists still survive, alongside scenes from the Dodecaorton depicted in the arches: the Nativity, the Transfiguration, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Resurrection, the Crucifixion and the Assumption. Together with the mosaics in the Chora and Pammakaristos monasteries in Constantinople, those in the Holy Apostles are the latest examples of such decoration in Byzantium, numbering among the sublimest manifestations of Paleologan art. Niphon was ousted from the patriarchal throne in 1314, and thus could not complete his ambitious plan. The decorations were supplemented with equally high quality frescoes in the lower parts of the nave, the narthex, the peristyle and the north chapel dedicated to John the Baptist, bearing scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and subjects either inspired by hymnography or of a symbolic nature. The wall paintings date to the late 1410s, and have been linked to the abbacy of Paul, the second founder.

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