Fairs
Festivals
are
mainly
religious
feasts
organized
to
honour the memory of the saint to whom a local church is dedicated. The
faithful often gather in the churchyard or other nearby open space to take part
in festivities such as dancing, singing or eating. Trade fairs are outdoor markets set up during a religious festival for the sale of animals and
produce. They are usually non-permanent affairs linked to a particular feast.
Although initially disapproved of by the Church Fathers as remnants of pagan religious
feasts that promoted profiting and lax morals, festivals contributed to the
growth of trade, particularly in provincial towns, by yielding significant
economic benefits for both Church and State. Key factors in the holding of fairs were the trading
power and geographic location of a town, and whether or not it had a port or a
major road, as many people travelled from afar to buy or sell. Major fairs were
those held in Thessaloniki
on the feast of Agios Dememtrios, and in Trabzon
on the feast of St. Eugene.
The
duration
of
fairs
was not
fixed;
they
could
last
several
days or
only
a few,
depending
on
local
demand. Nor
was
the venue predetermined,
as
on some occasions
they
were held in
front
of
the
church
and
on others
outside
the
city
walls. Open, level areas were preferred, affording merchants
space to spread out their wares, which included utensils, fabrics, carpets,
hides and animals (horses, cattle, sheep and pigs), and room for buyers to move
with greater ease between the stalls. Areas outside the city walls were also
preferred for safety reasons, as the visitors often included foreigners who
might prove to be spies or enemies.
The
fairground
was central to the social
life
of
inhabitants
in
the
Byzantine
Empire. The relaxed, pleasant
atmosphere
prevailing
there
gave those attending the chance
to
forget
their
problems, socialize
and
have
fun. Entertainments included impromptu performances by
mime artists and acrobats, and animal shows and parades. Also popular were
jugglers and physically unusual individuals such as giants, dwarfs or conjoined
twins, who were put on display in the streets and other public places.
Glossary (1)
Church Fathers:
a group of theologians and church authors
that lived during the
first five
centuries
of Christianity and exerted great influence.
Among them are:
Tertullian, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of
Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, etc.
Information Texts (2)
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.
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.
Bibliography (4)
1. Κουκουλές Φ., Βυζαντινών Βίος και Πολιτισμός, Παπαζήση, Athens, 1954
2. Λαμπροπούλου, Οι πανηγύρεις στην Πελοπόννησο κατά τη μεσαιωνική εποχή, Institute of Historical Research, Department of Byzantine Research, Athens, 1989
3. Μουτζάλη, Α., Εμποροπανηγύρεις, Το εμπόριο της περιπλάνησης, 2010
4. ‘ Η κοινωνική ζωή στο Βυζάντιο’ in Ψηφίδες του Βυζαντίου
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