The basilica
The ruins
of the Byzantine
Episcopal church
of Servia, known
as the Basilica
of
the Catechumens
or
Saranta Portes
(“Forty Doors”), lie in the northwest corner of
the lower city,
inside the fortified walls.
This is a
three-aisled
basilica
with a narthex ,
semicircular
apse and
raised
nave
with a
saddle
roof, while
the side aisles and the narthex
have lean-to roofs.
The church combines
elements from Hellenistic
and Eastern style basilicas, and was founded
shortly
after 1000
AD.
Sections of the wall paintings in the interior still survive; on the basis of stylistic and
iconographic
features,
these dated to
the 12th,
13th
and
15th-16th
century
respectively.
The
painting preserved
on
the south wall
of
the
nave
bears a
dedicatory
inscription
to Bishop
Michael
of Servia,
according to which the church was dedicated to Agios
Demetrios
by the late
12th
century, if
not earlier.
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