The episcopical palace
In
the
early Christian
period
Amphipolis was
the seat of
a
bishop, as
is evident from the part of a large rectangular
building unearthed behind the
conch
of Basilica I; this had walls
1.30 metres
thick
and has been identified
as an episcopal
palace.
An incorporated
circular structure
measuring
2.10m in
diameter
was
discovered in the northwest
corner
of this building,
and
three
oblong
rooms
in the
southwest. Traces of
hydraulic plaster on the
walls
and floors
of the latter indicate that they probably
served as cisterns.
Glossary (1)
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.
Information Texts (1)
The basilica I:
Basilica Ι was unearthed in the centre of the early
Christian city, on the ruins of a Late Roman bathhouse. It is a three nave basilica with an apse to the
east, and a narthex, exonarthex and atrium to the west.
The floors of the side aisles and atrium were decorated with colourful
mosaics, while that in the nave and narthex was covered with marble slabs. Outside the main body of the church,
archaeological excavations brought to light more religious buildings added to
the south and north of the narthex, exonarthex and atrium.
To the north of the basilica is a mid-6th century vaulted chapel
with a mosaic floor, probably the Diaconicon, leading to another
rectangular chamber to the west, probably the mitatorium.
The church is thought to have been built in the early 6th century, with further
interventions and additions in later years. At a later phase, when it was long abandoned
and falling in, a room was built in the middle of the north aisle to
house a family that settled in the ruins.
Bibliography (1)
1. Ζήκος Ν., Αμφίπολις. Παλαιοχριστιανική και βυζαντινή Αμφίπολις, Athens, 1989
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