Byzantine Churches in Thessaloniki

Many of Thessaloniki's featured tourist sites are Byzantine Churches and on my first day in the city, I came across a free pamplet called "Byzantine Churches of Thessaloniki." This was very helpful since I hadn't studied much before arriving and my friend's western oriented tour book focused more on where to get drunk than on Byzantine Churches and provided very little information about the few churches it mentioned. The intact (undoubtedly heavily restored) churches functioning as such were a refreshing change from Israel where the Byzantine layer is often destroyed as archaeologists dig through it to get to the Biblical levels and from Turkey where most of the remaining Byzantine churches serve as mosques (in Thessaloniki, many of the churches had been converted into mosques but were converted back to churches at the end of Ottoman rule). I visited nine Byzantine Churches and caught glimpses of a few others but the following were particularly memorable and illustrate different styles of Byzantine Churches:

Galerius' Rotunda of St. George (Galerius' Tomb)

The uniqueness of this church's form is due to it's having been built as a tomb and only later made into a church. The tomb was to be for the Roman ruler Galerius--who was involved in Roman leadership during the Tetrarchy that began with Diocletian and ended with Constantine.
Galerius spent a lot of time in Thessaloniki between 299 and 303 c.e. and had his palace in the city as well an arch dedicated to his having defeated the Persians around 298 c.e. These remains are archaeological highlights of Thessaloniki today. Galerius didn't die there as he seems to have planned on doing so the tomb lay empty until the Emperor Constantine ordered that the empty tomb be converted into a church dedicated to the Archangels.

This transformation from tomb to church involved the addition of a sancturary as an extention of the east bay of the rotunda (shown here protruding towards the photographer from the cylinder-shaped building). There are supports at each side of the apse which were added after an earthquake.

Later, Christians added mosaics to the building. The apse is decorated with a 9th century fresco of the Ascension. The interior of the highest drum before the dome features mosaics interspersed with now enclosed windows. This is explained as having been an architectural feature that allowed significant amount of light to illuminate the gold on the mosaics and interior of the dome.

This church was interesting for me because I have read that the octogonal churches in the Holy Land that usually mark a holy site (such as Capernaum, the original Churches of the Holy Sepulcre and original Church of the Nativity among others) are modeled after Roman emperors' tombs. In this case, it may have simply been that a monument was available and Constantine, having recently adopted Christianity, decided to put the building to use.

Hagia Sofia (Holy Wisdom)

The 5th century Hagia Sofia church was inspired by the famous church with the same name in Constantinople / Istanbul. It may be that Thessaloniki's Hagia Sofia is a copy of the church in Constantinople that was destroyed before the larger Hagia Sofia was built by Justinian in the 6th century. Still, Thessaloniki's Hagia Sofia has features that serve as reminds of the renowned Hagia Sofia. First, there is a dome in the center with supporting pilars. The marble of the Constantinople's Hagia Sofia that stands out is maroon, deep green, and deep green and the walls in Thessaloniki's version are painted in the same tones. The upper gallery of the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul is painted in a dirty yellow with floral designs and Thessaloniki's exterior is a similar color. Finally, both Istanbul and Thessaloniki's Hagia Sofia churches are in a domed Basilica style.

The Saint Demetrios Church is an early Byzantine Basilica (without a dome) and also dates from teh 5th century. Although a reconstruction after having been destroyed in a fire in the 20th century, the Saint Demetrios Church is interesting for it's once standard 5 aisle form. Details such as columns and capitals from the original building and the crypt give the church a feeling of uniqueness. The crypt was part of a Roman bath-house.

These 5th century Basilicas served were designed for the processional liturgy of the early Byzantine church. Such events could involved thousands of worshippers who moved around within the building.

St. Katherine's Church & The Church of the Holy Apostles
Encountering St. Katherine's Church (pictured here) and The Church of the Holy Apostles lifted my Thessaloniki Byzantine church tour from the level of energetic intellectual curiousity to absorbed aesthetic appreciation. I first encountered The Church of the Holy Apostles when my companions had had enough and went back to the hostel to put in some time at the beach. I calculated that being done for the day would make it nearly impossible to hit all the listed Byzantine Churches so I stayed in town for an uncharacteristicly late evening.

I don't know what it is about these two churches that struck my aesthetic chord. As an observer or art, it's rare that I experience the sublime level of appreciation until after I've studied something pretty thoroughly--I reached that point with the exterior of Byzantine churches after chasing down quite a number of them and reading some brief commentaries about features from different periods. Most of my reading about things Byzantine is about emperors and diplomatic and religious issues.

Both of the churches were both built in the early 14th century, during the Palaiologan dynasty near the end of the Byzantine Empire. These are "cross-in-square" churches, which were "dominant in [late] Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture until the close of the Middle Ages ... The idea was very simple and based entirely on structural elements deeply rooted in the Byzantine tradition: that of a dome rising above four barrel vaults, arranged so as to form a Greek cross." This type of church was small and "designed ... to hold a congregation of about one hundred ... the cross-in-square church arose in a monastic milieu. A Byzantine monestary normally numbered a brotherhood of between twenty and one hundred" (Mango, Cyril. Byzantine Architecture, 178). These churches were used for more private worship involving individual prayer and the interaction between the worshipper and icons. This type of worship lead to churches having numerous small spaces including private chapels (Ousterhout, Master Builders of Byzantium, 9-10).

The structure of the two churches is similar--they have five domes with the central and corner domes being nearly the same size. The height of the relatively small domes above the roof creates room for windows with stepped arches around small windows. I think this is what makes the exterior so appealing to me. In addition, each of the churches had appealing unique features: The Church of the Holy Apostles has decorative brickwork on its exterior while the St. Katherine's Church has double and triple openings on the facade.

The interior design of the churches of this period draw praise from art commentators but I wasn't too absorbed by this, although I have been in various of Istanbul's Byzantine churches.

The Church of the Prophet Elijah

The Church of the Prophet Elijah was the surprise of my visit. I had read about Mt. Athos and the style of church that is typical there and was pleased to find that such a church was on display in Thessaloniki. Like St. Katherines and the Church of the Holy Apostles, this church was built in the later Byzantine period which featured small churches built for monastic groups.

The Church of the Prophet Elijah's compact structure shares common features of later Byzantine church design but is also an example of a unique type. The lateral apses were added in order to provide space for monastic choirs. This design is "limited to Mount Athos, where about twenty examples are preserved, and to related areas in Northern Greece and in the Balkans" (Ousterhout, 29 note 40).

Thinking about Byzantine Churches in Thessaloniki brought me an appreciation of the last period of Byzantine: the Palaiologan Dynasty (previously, my interest in Byzantine had focused on the early period when the Byzantine Empire was much stronger and when the creeds were crafted). It turns out that the Palaiologan period was the high point of Byzantine art--and is said to have influenced, or even sparked, the Italian renaissance.

Works Cited

Mango, Cyril. Byzantine Architecture. 1974. Harry N. Arams, Inc.

Ousterhout, Master Builders of Byzantium. 2007. University of Pennsylvania Museum Publication.

Byzantine Monuments in Istanbul

Between Amsterdam and Israel, I spent a bit over a week in Istanbul. This was my second visit to Istanbul. Istanbul is one of those places where there are historic sites all over the place--especially within the large walled old city. On my first visit to Istanbul for three days in 2003, I took along a book about the architect Mimar Sinan. He was the architect for Sulieman the Magnificant at the height of the Ottoman Empire. This time, I dug a bit deeper into history and focused on Byzantine monuments (warning: this entry is almost straight from my notes and may be of little interest unless you're traveling to Istanbul).

Many Byzantine buildings all look like they are going to fall apart. Most are made of bricks that are no longer smooth and which are no longer painted over with shiny stuff that probably made the buildings much more impressive. Still, the structures are interesting and the art within--most notably mosaics--still hold their luster.

Here's my list of the best Byzantine works in Istanbul:

Hagia Sophia
A church, a traditional basilica much smaller than the Hagia Sophia of today, was first planned on the site by Constantine and built by his son Constantius around 360. However, this was burnt in 404 A.D. during riots that resulted from the banishment of the popular churchman St. John Chrysostom. The Emperor Teodosius (408-450) ordered the construction of the second church. This was finished in 409 A.D. This church was similar to the first. In 532 A.D., there was a riot against Justinian I during which the church was again destroyed. Justinian I put down the rebellion and had the much larger church built that continues to stand today (there have been many renovations and additions which I won't attempt to describe here). The Hagia Sophia was dedicated by Justinian in 537 c.e.

The Hagia Sophia follows the basilica layout (is rectangular) as is common Byzantine church architecture but it features a central dome with half-domes to the east and west. Freely and Cakmak evaluate this innovation: "Glorious as is the [central] dome, it is the introduction of the semidomes that constitutes the real triumph of genius. For in addition to lengthening the nave [the central area of the church], they make it possible to appreciate from the very threshold the soaring, hovering height; they allow the dome, in short, to play its true and full part in the total effect" (93-94). That is to say, if there weren't half-domes, the walls on the next level lower than the dome would have obstructed the view and the observer would have to stand under the central dome and look straight up to see it.

The Hagia Sophia, as built by Justinian I, had a courtyard with covered walkways around the three sides (the sides that did not include the main section of the building). These walkways surrounded a fountain (Freely & Carmak, 98). Although this area no longer exists, realizing that it was part of the Justinian's Hagia Sophia helps one to appreciate the impact of this building on the Ottoman style mosque that reached it's height with the architect Sinan over 1000 years later. These Ottoman mosques similarly have a courtyard preceding the entry with covered walkways around three sides. The other most prominant borrowed feature is that many mosques have two half-domes. However, where the building has a square, rather than rectangular layout, there are four half domes.

Wikipedia has some photos and additional explaination of the many features of the Hagia Sophia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia

The Church of Sergius and Bachus (Kucuk Ayasofya Mosque)
This is the oldest surviving church in Istanbul—built by the Emperor Justinian in 525A.D.. (like the Hagia Sophia, it was designed by Justinian's chief architect, Anthemius). During the reign of the Emperor Justin, Justinian was blamed for having a plot against Justin. Justin was planning on severely punishing Justinian but two local saints, Sergius and Bachus appeared to Justin in a dream and asked him to forgive his cousin Justinian. Justinian, once in power, showed gratitude to the two saints by having this church constructed in their memory. The exterior of the building is overwhelmingly Byzantine but there have been additions since it became a mosque. There is a portico in front and, of course, a mineret. In addition, there are Islamic tombstones on two sides of the mosque. There is a courtyard that appears original but the fountain in the middle of the courtyard appears to have been added very recently. It was interesting to note that the courtyard in front of the mosque seemed similar to the typical Ottoman layout. It may be that this too was copied from the Byzantines. The exterior deserves various perspectives. I walked around the neighborhood to see it from various angles. The interior of the building has the appearance of a contemporary mosque. The design must be of the original Byzantine and there is a second floor around the outside of the building—similar, in concept, to the Hagia Sophia—but it would require some study to appreciate the design given the Islamic designs. I noticed the columns but don’t recall the types and what appeared to be a bit of original masonry at a particular junction. The dome which is divided into 16 sections.

The Chora Church (now Kariye Museum)
The Chora Museum was built in the 6th century but re-decorated between 1316 and 1321 by Theodora Metochites. A “statesman” who spent his time and money embellishing this church. The church was expanded: "The shell of the Comnenian nave was left in place, but its dome was built anew; the two narthexes and the mortuary parecclession to the south of the church are due to Metochites. ... // the architecture hardly stands comparison witht he deservedly famous mosaics and frescoes of the interior, upon which ... Metochites lavished the greater part of his attention" (Cyril Mango, Byzantine Archicture, 271). I came across commentary saying the the architecture is not proportional. The notable embellishments are the frescos and mosaics. The one that kept me gazing is of Jesus and is sometimes referred to as "land of the living" which has some theological meaning that I don't know about. For a picture of this mosaic, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chorachrist.jpg

In mid-July 2008 I returned to this church and spent some time drawing it. I noticed the south fourth of the facade is substantially darker than the remainder, being maroon while other sections are pink and white.

Hagia Eirene
This is just inside the wall to the Topkapi palace. It is probably the oldest surviving Byzantine church in Istanbul, roughly contemporary with Justinian's Hagia Sofia.

The Church of the Pantocrator
Just west of the most visible portion of the aqueduct, near the Zeyrek neighborhood there is a compound with two churches and a chapel (now known as the Zeyrek Mosque), and formerly a monestary: a church dedicated to the Virgin Eleousa, the Merciful or Charitable sponsored by Emperor John II Conmenum and the Church of the Pantocrator, dedicated to St. Savior Pantocrator and sponsored by Empress Eirene. Empress Eirene died in 1124 and was buried in the church (her sarcophogus is now in the exonarthex of the Aya Sofia). The Empresses church was built first and John II added his church after Eirene's death. The Emperor also had the churches connected by adding a chapel between the two churches. This required the demolition of part of the exterior walls of the two buildings. Inside the building, original marble in and around the apse stands out.

The Church of St. Mary Pammakaristos (Fethiye Mosque)
This building is located in the north-west section of Istanbul's walled old city, up the hill from the Golden Horn. It is near the Patriarch of Rum's residence. The church was built after the Crusaders were ousted from Constantinople in 1261 (where they had ruled since 1204).

I soaked up the interior and exterior of the small church and appreciated the explanations of what the mosaics and frescoes represented. Otherwise I would have thought the twelve prophets around the interior of the dome were the twelve apostles. I spent some time looking at the mosaic of Christ in the center of the same dome.

The City Walls
One day I walked around much of Istanbul’s old city walls. The walls were originally built by Anthemius, the prefect of the Eastern Empire during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II (408-450). These walls were destroyed in an earthquake in 447. Then Constantine, the next Prefect of the city, rebuilt them in time to stop Attila the Hun from conquering the city. Theodosius’s walls consisted of a moat and three successive walls and stretched for 6.5 kilometers. These walls protected the city for nearly 1000 years. The walls and gates are currently being restored. The pre-restoration walls have certainly crumbled but I prefer these originals to the restored versions.

The Golden Gate / Kedikule (Byzantine & Ottoman fortress)
On the southwest corner of the old city, near the Marmara is the gate built by Theoldosius I. This was used for triumphal state processions into and out of the city. When Theodosius II built the land wall between the Marmara and the Golden Horn, he incorporated this gate into the wall.
The fortress around the Golden Gate had four towers in Byzantine times (Mehmet the Conquerer (Ottoman) added the semi-circular wall on the peninsula side of the wall which has three additional towers).

The Aqueduct of Valens
Valens ruled from 364 to 378. There is a literary source mentioning an aqueduct built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian much earlier than Valens. Some speculate that the "Aqueduct of Valens" may be this aqueduct (see Byzantine Monuments of Istanbul, 11).

"The Romans built an aqueduct to carry water into the city during the reign of Hadrian (r. 117-38). This may be the structure known today as the Valens Aqueduct, but there is no definite evidence to support this supposition" (Byzantine Monuments of Istanbul, 11).

The Basilica Cistern
The cistern The Basilica Cistern is the largest of several hundred cisterns that still lie beneath Istanbul. It is 143 by 65 meters and can hold 80,000 cubic meters of water. There are 336 marble columns (12 rows by 28 columns), each 9 meters high. The columns have capitals in the Ionic and Corinthian style but some of the columns are in no sense decorative. It would be interesting to try to determine which part that was the Basilica and which is the extension. I imagine the expansion areas are where there is little concern for aesthetics as these were to be under water. It is believed that the emperor Constantine had built a basilica and cistern on the spot but that the emperor Justinian I, in the 6th century, responded to a greater demand for water by incorporating the basilica into an enlarged cistern. The cistern is surrounded by a 4 meter thick firebrick wall that is coated with a special mortar for waterproofing. Water from the Belgrade Woods, which lie 19 km north of the city, was brought to the cistern via aqueducts, also built by Justinian.

Mosaic Museum
The mosaic museum features sections of mosaics from Constantinople's Great Palace, which was located where the Blue Mosque is now. My favorite scene is of a man milking a goat.










The Hippodromo
Along with being an ancient sports stadium, a Hippodromo had ceremonial functions. It was also quasi-political as the populous expressed it's attitude towards emperors there. It is believed that the Hippodromo in Constantinople could seat 50,000 people and 30,000 rebels met their doom there after rebelling against Justinian I. The site was such that the empire could display it's glory there which may explain why there is an Egyptian obilisk and what at first seems like a random carved thing in the middle of a park in the most historic section of Istanbul. The latter is part of a statue of three intertiwined serpents (who'se heads are no longer evident except in the adjacent Istanbul Archaeological Museum) which used to be a trophy that once stood in the shrine of Apollo at Delphi. These mark the middle of the Hippodromo's chariot race track. These were on "a raised terrace ... which was adorned with a line of statues, obelisks, and columns" (Freely & Cakmak, 17). The once glorious Hippodromo is otherwise easily missed--tourist books refer to this raised terrace in the middle of the race track as "the spina" but may not explain that this was the part of the Hippodromo. I happened across the curved walls as I walked down the hill towards The Kucuk Ayasofya Church of Sergius and Bachus. The walls of a Hippodromo are evident but unexplained. There are buildings on top so there isn’t a lot to see. The arched doorways are still evident but have been blocked up to prevent collapse. The visual effect is not particularly impressive but knowing where it is at least contributes to an understanding of the layout of the Byzantine city. The above drawing is by by Onofrio Panvinio(Venice, 1600, based on an earlier drawing). It and other views of the hippodrome can be found at: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/circusmaximus/sphendone.html

Constantine's Pilar
I walked by Constantine's pilar numerous times before identifying it as such. It was enveloped in scaffolding which made it difficult to appreciate although it is notable as one of the few surviving monuments from Constantine's brief rule in the city after moving the Roman Empire's capital to Constantinople.

The Million
The remains of the free standing arch that used to be the basis for distance measurements in the Byzantine era are hardly recognizable as the section of column that it is. The utility it served long ago made it an interesting glance.

Location of Byzantine Sites
The sites I've mentioned are big name sites that can be found on a tourist map you would pick up in the city or in your tour guide book. The Hagia Sophia, The Kucuk Ayasofya Church of Sergius and Bachus (a.k.a. the Kucuk Ayasofya Mosque), the Mosaic Museum, and the Basilica Cistern are on the east side of the old city, near the Topkapi Palace and Sultanahmet mosque. The Chora Museum, or Kariye Muzesi, is in the north-west section of the old city. The Wall is best observed near the Chora Museum and northward to the Golden Horn.

The Byzantine sites I have not visited but would like to include the Binbirdirek Cistern and the Palace of Antiochus as well as a sea Palace along the Marmara near the tip of the Peninsula (which has remains which would be hard to identify without descriptions). I found the book Byzantine Monuments of Istanbul by Freely & Carmak to be ideal for the scholarly tourist--concise history, clear architectural descriptions and plenty of photos and graphics.