The monastery of Christ the Saviour


The catholicon of the monastery of Christ the Savior, located at the centre of the modern city of Veroia, is one of the most important Byzantine period monuments. According to a verse inscription above the main entrance to the church, the catholicon was founded by Xenos Psalidas and completed after his death by his wife Euphrosyne, in 1314/5. The stavropegic monastery of Christ the Saviour was granted to monk Ignatius Kalothetos by a chrysobull issued by Andronicus II Palaeologus in February 1314, and remained independent at least up until 1338. Before 1400 the monastery was annexed by the monastery of Megisti Lavra on Mount Athos, and according to inscriptions on frescoes dated to 1727, the catholicon was eventually transferred to the diocese of Veroia.

The church was originally a one-room wooden roofed temple with a semi-hexagonal conch in the sanctuary and three doors, one on each side. In the early 18th century a closed peristyle surrounding the north, west and south sides was added to the monument. Later, during restoration in the 1950s, this peristyle was replaced by an open arched peristyle.

The church’s most interesting feature is its iconography, which is the work of famed painter Georgios Kalliergis, one of the leading exponents of the Palaeologan Renaissance. The frescoes in the nave present a unified iconographic program dated to 1314/5; later paintings dating to 1326, 1355 and 1727 still survive on the exterior walls.


Glossary (5)

catholicon: the main church of a monastery. As a rule it was the most imposing one, located in the center of the courtyard
stavropegic monastery: Monastery that is a direct dependency of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
chrysobull: official public document or decree issued by the emperors of Byzantium, with an authenticating gold stamp on the silk band that accompanied it.
conch (Sanctuary niche): Niche in the eastern end of a basilica. Semicircular on the inside, with a horseshoe shaped, rectangular or polygonal exterior.
peristyle: Space surrounding the main body of a church or the core of a centrally-planned building. In domed basilicas this was formed by the side naves and the western part of the church. In later periods peristyles surrounded enclosed cruciform cores. In the Palaeologan period peristyles were built around many of the Middle Byzantine churches in Constantinople, often serving as funerary chapels.


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Bibliography (5)

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5. Γούναρης Γ., Χριστός Βεροίας, Thessaloniki, 1991


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