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.
Glossary (13)
crypt:
vaulted, subterranean chamber, usually located in the eastern part of a church, beneath the altar. Crypts were burial places for priests or martyrs and were used for storing sacred relics.
basilica:
type of large church, divided internally into three or more naves. The central nave was usually covered by a raised roof with windows that illuminated the space.
ciborium or canopy:
vaulted, subterranean chamber, usually located in the eastern part of a church, beneath the altar. Crypts were burial places for priests or martyrs and were used for storing sacred relics.
five-nave basilica:
basilica with five naves.
transept:
aisle built perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of a church; an elongated transverse space formed between the nave and the eastern wall of the temple, in front of the apse.
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.
cornice:
architectural feature separating the upper and lower sections of church walls, both inside and out. A thin, projecting band, usually semicircular in cross section.
marble revetment:
facings of colored marble slabs that covered walls from the floor to the starting point of arches.
opus sectile:
decoration technique for floors and walls that uses individually shaped large pieces of durable material, usually marble, glass or ivory, where each piece forms an element of a design or pattern.
wall paintings or murals:
Painted scenes on a wall or ceiling surface.
mosaic:
patterns or
images composed of small, colored tesserae. Mosaic
decoration can
be applied
to all the surfaces
of a building:
floor, walls or ceiling.
piers or pillars:
supports of square or rectangular cross-section. They are usually freestanding (not attached to a wall), made of built masonry.
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.
Information Texts (2)
Agios Demetrios:
Martyr and patron
saint of Thessaloniki.
According to sources on his martyrdom, he was born c. 280-284 AD to an
aristocratic family and served as an officer in the Roman army. On being
baptized he was imprisoned for breaching Emperor Diocletian’s decree on renouncing
Christianity. He was executed by the Romans in 303, during the reign of Emperor
Galerius Maximianus (293-311). Fearing his remains would be snatched by Roman
pagans, some Christians buried them on the site of his martyrdom, in the basement
of a ruined Roman bath near the stadium. Shortly after the Edict of Milan in
313, a small rectangular commemorative building was erected on the same site,
followed by the large basilica of St. Demetrios. Extensively added to and
repaired over the years, the church is still in use to this day.
Edict of Milan:
Decree establishing religious tolerance in the Roman
Empire. It was signed in Mediolanum, modern Milan, between Constantine and Licinius, in
313 AD. The decree acknowledged the Christian Church as an "authorized
religion." Although the decree came into effect in 313, the persecutions
only stopped when Constantine
became sole emperor in 324.
Bibliography (4)
1. ΜΑΥΡΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ- ΤΣΙΟΥΜΗ Χ., Μπακιρτζής Χαράλαμπος, Ψηφιδωτά της Θεσσαλονίκης. 4ος-14ος αιώνας, Καπόν, Athens, 2012
2. Τούρτα Α., Κουρκουτίδου - Νικολαϊδου Ε., "Περίπατοι στη Βυζαντινή Θεσσαλονίκη", 1997
3. Μπακιρτζής Χαράλαμπος, Η Βασιλική του Αγίου Δημητρίου, Thessaloniki, 1986
4. Τσιγαρίδας Ε. Ν, Οι τοιχογραφίες του παρεκκλησίου του Αγίου Ευθυμίου (1302/3). Έργο του Μανουήλ Πανσελήνου στη Θεσσαλονίκη, Π. Πουρναρά, Thessaloniki, 2008
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