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.
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