The museum


The Byzantine Museum of Veroia is housed in a newly renovated industrial building located in the heritage listed district of Kiriotissa. The building was founded in the early 20th century by Stergios Markos, a doctor educated in Bucharest. It housed a roller flour mill powered by water from a tributary of the River Tripotamos, which ran along the south side. The building is a typical example of industrial architecture at the time and originally stood four storeys high. The walls were of local limestone and strong mortar, reinforced with hewn cornerstones, and the floors and roof of wood, mounted on a metal frame of cast iron on the perimeter walls. The flour mill operated until the 1960's, and the building suffered a fire in 1981.

Now renovated, the museum comprises a ground floor with a gift shop, conservation lab, storage spaces, areas for educational programmes, exhibitions and lectures, and three upper floors totalling 720m2, each of which houses a conceptually separate section of the permanent exhibition. The objects in the permanent exhibition are part of a rich collection of icons, frescoes from churches, mosaics from secular and religious buildings, manuscripts and incunabula, ceramics and miniatures, coins and wood carvings, burial goods, architectural sculptures and inscriptions.

In particular, the first floor exhibition presents the main features of Byzantine culture as exemplified by Veroia, a regional city in the Empire with a wealth of history and noteworthy monuments, and its diverse cultural relations with Constantinople and Thessaloniki, the major centres in the Byzantine world, as well as with other cities in Macedonia. Frames of reference for studying communication between them are Constantinople, as expressing output at the centre of the Empire, Thessaloniki, following trends in the capital, and Kastoria, a parallel example of a regional city. Links between the cities are traced with regard to worship, art, financial and commercial transactions, as well as to human resources, i.e. the itinerant artists who contributed to the spread of ideas, aesthetic values ​​and ideological currents in the empire.

The museum programme is complemented by a presentation of public and private life in the city (on the second floor), and is rounded off with a portrayal of worship as represented by the features to be found where it was practised, as well as by the human perception of sanctity and the Divine (on the third floor).


Glossary (2)

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.


Information Texts (3)

The city: Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, was built on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium, on the triangular peninsula formed by the Golden Horn, the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. This was an excellent location that controlled trade routes linking the Aegean to the Black Sea. Emperor Constantine founded Constantinople in 330 AD as a city to rival Rome in splendour, wealth and power. The city grew fast, leading to problems of space and facilities, so Theodosius I extended it to the west by building new strong walls that protected Constantinople until the end of the Byzantine Empire. The city was laid out after Rome. A main road, the Mese Odos, linked the palace to the Golden Gate. On this road was the Forum, a circular plaza with a statue of Constantine mounted on a column, surrounded by public buildings. Theodosius I and Arcadius later built more forums decorated with their own statues. Following the Nika riots in the 6th century, Justinian adorned Constantinople with magnificent edifices, palaces, baths and public buildings. This time also saw the construction of Agia Sophia (the Holy Wisdom), the church which served as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate throughout the Byzantine period. During the 7th and 8th centuries Constantinople faced major problems that threw it into disarray: attacks by the Avars (a siege in 674) and Arabs (attacks in 674 and 717-718); natural disasters (a powerful, destructive earthquake in 740); and epidemics (plague in 747). Limited building activity resumed in the 8th and 9th century, mainly concentrated on strengthening the city's fortifications. With the recovery of the Byzantine Empire from the 9th to the 11th century, Constantinople became the most populated city in Christendom; the majority of inhabitants were Greek-speaking, but many other ethnic groups lived alongside them, such as Jews, Armenians, Russians, Italians merchants, Arabs and mercenaries from Western Europe and Scandinavia. Many public, private and church-owned buildings were erected at the time, with an emphasis on establishing charitable institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages and schools. Higher education flourished, thanks to the care of the state and the emergence of important scholars. This renaissance lasted until the mid-11th century, when economic problems due to poor management set in, compounded by the adverse outcome of imperial operations beyond the borders. The Crusaders left Constantinople entirely unscathed when first passing through, but in the Fourth Crusade of 1204 the Franks conquered and ransacked the city, slaughtering those inhabitants they did not take prisoner or drive out. In 1261 the city was retaken by Michael VIII Palaeologus, who rebuilt most of the monuments and the walls but proved unable to restore the city to its former splendour and glory. Enfeebled as it was, the empire was incapable of checking the advance of the Ottomans, and in 1453 Constantinople finally fell into their hands. The fall signalled the end of the empire. Nevertheless, the Byzantine intellectual tradition remained significant, as many scholars settled in the Venetian dominions of Crete and the Peloponnese, as well as in European countries, conveying Greek learning to the West.
The city: Around the top of the Thermaic Gulf there were several small ancient towns with intense commercial activity, which further expanded after the destruction of Olynthus by Philip in 348 BC. According to Strabo, King Cassander founded a new city in 316 BC, naming it Thessaloniki after his wife, sister to Alexander the Great. The few traces of Hellenistic buildings identified to date - an important administrative building complex in Governing House Square, and the east part of the wall - indicate that from the outset the city was intended to be a major political and military centre. Thessaloniki’s geographic location at a key point on Macedonia’s land and sea routes was an important factor in its growth down the centuries. From the mid 2nd century BC onwards it was the most important military and trading post on the Via Egnatia, which crossed the Balkan Peninsula from Durres to Byzantium (later Constantinople). Its port also began to flourish, lying as it did at the end of the road leading from the Danube to the Aegean. The city thus became the crossroads of the major trading routes heading East-West and North-South in the Roman Empire. Christian history in Thessaloniki began with the arrival of Paul the Apostle, who preached in the city’s synagogue in 51 or early 52 AD, though archaeological traces are thin on the ground until three centuries later. The 1st century saw the foundation of the Roman forum, along with several public buildings such as the library, the gymnasium and the Gallery of Figurines, which may have belonged to the imperial bath complex. In 298-299 Caesar Galerius moved his headquarters from Sirmium in Panonnia to Thessaloniki, adorning it with new monumental buildings such as the palace, the hippodrome, the theatre-stadium and the Rotonda, which was originally a temple modelled after the Pantheon in Rome. The famous Arch of Galerius, a dedicatory tetrapylon known locally as the Kamara, was erected at this time, decorated with scenes from Galerius’s victories against the Persians. In 322 Constantine the Great built the port at the southwest end of the shore. Thessaloniki became an important ecclesiastical centre from the late 4th century onwards. In 380, while staying in the city with his court in preparation for a campaign against the Goths, Emperor Theodosius I was baptized by Bishop Acholius (or Ascholios) and issued a decree forbidding sacrifices throughout the empire. Around the same time, the bishop of the city was promoted to archbishop and vicar (representative) of the Pope of Rome, with jurisdiction over the entire prefecture of East Illyria. The Christian churches built over the next two centuries changed the city, as they were the tallest buildings and most important landmarks in the new town plan developed on either side of the imperial road (the Via Regia), along the axis of what is now Egnatia Street. The Episcopal Church was a large five-nave basilica, possibly dedicated to Agios Markos; the Church of Agios Demetrios became the city’s major pilgrimage shrine. The large public buildings of the past either fell into gradual decline and were abandoned (such as the forum, which became a quarry for rocks and clay), or changed function (such as the Rotonda, which was converted into a Christian church). Excavations in the city’s historic centre have brought to light numerous early Christian buildings, the majority of which are houses. Most are urban villas in the city’s north and east section, with a spacious vaulted banquet room (triclinium) and a peristyle surrounded by rooms, baths, storage areas or cisterns. The cemeteries outside the city walls contained graves of all types, from pit graves to cist graves and tiled versions etc. Most important of all are the vaulted tombs, with fresco decorations in the interior. From the late 6th century Thessaloniki was repeatedly raided by the Avaro- Slavs and suffered earthquakes which destroyed many buildings. Combined with a general decline in the state economy, the raids and earthquakes altered living conditions in the city. This change can be traced in the construction of smaller, humbler houses with one or at most two rooms, erected on the ruins of old buildings. Descriptions of the houses preserved in legal documents of the Mount Athos monasteries provide an idea of life in the city; workshops and houses stood cheek by jowl, around shared courtyards with ovens and wells. House walls often incorporated earlier ruins and were constructed of various materials - some were of plaster coated wooden boards. Small churches and chapels were founded in the neighbourhoods on monastery-owned land. The Archbishop of Thessaloniki came under the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the new Cathedral of Agia Sophia was built in the late 8th century, decorated with mosaics sponsored by the emperor. The establishment of the Theme of Thessaloniki in the early 9th century offered security to the inhabitants and stability in the region. The markets filled with goods and the number of visitors grew. The city was proud of its scholar Bishop Leo the Mathematician and of two brothers: Constantine, who became a monk named Cyril, and Methodius. In 863 they travelled to Moravia, where they created the Old Slavonic alphabet and translated the Bible, the Divine Liturgy and important canonical texts into the language of the newly converted Slavs. Over the next centuries many more chapels and churches were built, such as Agios Euthymios, next to Agios Demetrios, and Panagia Chalkeon (1028). After Thessaloniki fell to the Saracens in 904, the next wave of destruction occurred when the city was wrested by the Normans in 1185. The Crusaders made it the capital of the Frankish kingdom from 1204 to 1224. From then onwards Thessaloniki frequently changed hands between Greek rulers who laid claim to the imperial throne, until 1246, when it was annexed to the Empire of Nicaea along with the rest of Macedonia. In 1303 Irene-Yolanda of Montferrat, second wife of Andronicus II, came to the city and remained there until her death in 1317, while in 1320 Emperor Michael IX died in the city. Important monuments of Paleologan art and architecture still survive from the first third of the 14th century, such as the churches of Agioi Apostoloi, Agia Aikaterini, Agios Panteleimon, Agios Nikolaos Orfanos and the Taxiarches (Archangels). Art production continued over the subsequent turbulent decades, though on various scales: the Church of Christ the Saviour, built after 1340, is the smallest church in the city, while that dedicated to the Prophet Elijah, built after 1360, is one of the largest. Several vacant plots within the city walls were turned into vegetable gardens or cemeteries. During the conflict between Andronicus II and his grandson Andronicus III, the Serbs and Ottomans became involved in the internal affairs of the empire as allies for one or other party vying for the throne, drawing ever closer to Thessaloniki and its surroundings. From 1342 until 1349 the city was tormented by discord between the Zealots and the Hesychasts. In 1387, following a four-year siege, the city was surrendered to the Ottomans. In 1403 it returned to Byzantine rule under Manuel II. In 1412 and 1416 it was besieged by Musa, one of the aspiring successors of Sultan Bayezid. Fearing a new conquest by the Ottomans, in 1423 Andronicus Palaeologus handed the city over to the Venetians, on conditions that were never honoured. Thessaloniki finally fell to the Ottomans in 1430.
The city: Located in Western Macedonia, the city of Kastoria is the capital of the prefecture of the same name. It lies between the Verno (Vitsis) and Grammos Mountains, on a narrow peninsula which widens as it projects into Lake Orestiada, also known as Lake Kastoria. Its geographical location and naturally fortified position, described by Anna Comnena when her father Alexius I Comnenus besieged the city, rendered it one of the major hubs in Western Macedonia. This was a decisive factor in the city’s economic and cultural development.The first evidence of habitation in the area’s long history can be traced back to the Neolithic era. According to written sources, in the pre-Christian era the site of present day Kastoria was occupied by Keletron or Kilitron, one of the cities of Orestida along with Diocletianoupolis and Argos Orestikon.Procopius the historian relates that in the 6th century Justinian founded a new fortified city on the site, naming it Diocletianoupolis after a ruined city of the same name nearby. Written sources from the 10th century onwards refer to it as Kastoria.As part of the fortification projects undertaken by Justinian to organize the defences of imperial cities, the neck of Kastoria Peninsula was closed off by a wall reinforced with semi-circular and round towers. Controlled access to the city was gained via three gates; the central one lay only 100 metres from the bridge over the moat outside the city walls. The only Early Byzantine monuments still surviving in the city are some sections of the wall, reused architectural members (spolia) in the Church of the Archangel of the Metropolis, and a capital found on the west side of the Koursoumli Mosque, which lends weight to the hypothesis that there was a Christian basilica in the area. In addition to the isthmus wall, from Early Byzantine times there was an interior wall around the citadel. This began on the northwest side, ran parallel to both shores of the lake and ended in the area to the north and east of the Church of Panagia Koumbelidiki, incorporating it into the city. The enclosure wall had at least six gates linking the citadel to the city. When the Byzantine fortifications were reconstructed, a massive tower was built to further strengthen the main gate in the Justinian wall at the neck of the city.The link to the Via Egnatia facilitated communication between Kastoria and the centre of the empire at Constantinople. Proof of relations with the capital throughout the Middle Byzantine period is mainly to be seen in the cultural influences apparent in monuments.Both within and beyond the walls, the number of churches surviving from the 9th to the late 14th century attests to a flowering of the city at that time. The churches in question are small three-nave basilicas, such as Agios Stephanos and Agioi Anargyroi; single-nave churches, such as Panagia Mavriotissa and Agios Athanasios; and triconch churches, such as Panagia Koumbelidiki. The most striking feature of the three-aisled basilicas in Kastoria is a prominent central nave with raised sides, punctuated by single and double light windows. The surviving iconographic programmes are impressive, as is the ornate ceramoplastic decoration on the exterior, featuring courses of clay tiles in the shape of rectangles, squares, parallelograms and triangles. These often run like friezes around the top of the walls under the roof, or surround the body of the monument at various heights. Several of these churches were private, and many served as the catholica of small monasteries in Kastoria. It is worth noting that most of the sites were in continuous use, as is evident from the fact that the churches were rebuilt and decorated more than once.The city has a turbulent history. From 927 to 969 it was occupied by the Bulgarians, who were expelled by the Pechenegs with encouragement from the Byzantines. In 990 Tsar Samuel of the Bulgarians raided Greece and conquered Kastoria. It was liberated in 1018 by Basil II and became his military operations base. In 1082 the city was taken by Bohemund, son of the Norman leader Robert Guiscard. It was recaptured by Alexius I Comnenus a year later, at the beginning of what proved to be a lasting peace, which resulted in a new peak of prosperity. The city may have been occupied by the Normans for a few months at the end of the 12th century, when they crossed Western Macedonia en route from Durres to Thessaloniki in the summer of 1185. Kastoria seems to have been an important commercial centre with a strong Venetian presence, as indicated by a chrysobull issued in their favour by Alexius III Angelus in November 1198.


Bibliography (2)

1. Πέτκος Α. Σ, Καραγιάννη Φ., Βυζαντινό Μουσείο Βέροιας, Βέροια, 2007

2. Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Τουρισμού | Βυζαντινό Μουσείο Βέροιας, http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/1/gh151.jsp?obj_id=3299


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