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.
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