Greece - Korina Miller [217]
PALACE, ARCH & MAUSOLEUM (ROTUNDA) OF GALERIUS
Three major Roman monuments associated with the early-4th-century Emperor Galerius spill across Egnatia at Plateia Navarinou. The ruined Palace of Galerius (Plateia Navarinou; admission free; 8.30am-3pm Tue-Sun), sprawling east–west across the square, contains floor mosaics, columns and some walls. North of Egnatia at Kamara, the Arch of Galerius features sculpted soldiers in combat; it was erected in AD 303 to celebrate a victory over the Persians.
Just above the arch is the unmistakable Rotunda ( 2310 218 720; Plateia Agiou Georgiou; admission free; 8am-5pm Tue-Sun), a hulking brick structure built by Galerius as his future mausoleum (he never used it, dying in retirement in today’s Serbia instead). Constantine the Great made the Rotunda Thessaloniki’s first church (Agiou Georgiou), and later the Ottomans transformed it into a mosque; the minaret they added has now been restored. Some interior frescoes survive.
ROMAN AGORA
The Roman Agora (Plateia Dikastirion; admission free; 8am-3pm Tue-Sun) lies north of Plateia Aristotelous, across Egnatia on Plateia Dikastirion. Ancient Macedonian commercial activity, starting in the 3rd century BC, peaked under the Romans, when the area was buzzing with public affairs, services and shops. A helpful, English-language placard explains the site, which contains clustered shop walls and mosaic floor remnants.
BYZANTINE CHURCHES
Perhaps the grandest church in Greece, the enormous, 5th-century Church of Agios Dimitrios ( 2310 270 008; Agiou Dimitriou 97; admission free; 8am-10pm, crypt 8am-7.30pm Tue-Thu & Sun, 1.30-7.30pm Mon, 9-11pm Fri), honours Thessaloniki’s patron saint. A Roman soldier, Dimitrios was killed around AD 303 on the site (then a Roman bath), on orders of Emperor Galerius, infamous for persecuting Christians. The martyrdom site is now an eerie underground crypt, open during the day and for the special Friday-night service (see Cryptical Envelopment, opposite). In 1980, the saint’s relics were returned from Italy, and now occupy a silver reliquary inside.
The Ottomans made Agios Dimitrios a mosque, plastering over the wall frescoes. After the 1913 Greek reconquest, the plaster was removed, revealing Thessaloniki’s finest church mosaics. While the 1917 fire was very damaging, five 8th-century mosaics have survived, spanning the altar.
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CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT
Being a Christian in late-Roman Thessaloniki was extremely dangerous. Galerius (AD 250–311) made practising the new religion punishable by death – a stark reality that drove worshippers literally underground. One day in about the year AD 303, a young soldier named Dimitrios was caught preaching in a subterranean portico in the city agora (market). Dragged off to the baths, Dimitrios was speared to death as an example to others.
After the Eastern Roman Empire officially adopted Orthodox Christianity under Emperor Constantine the Great, Dimitrios became venerated as Thessaloniki’s patron saint. Numerous miracles were credited to him, including sudden appearances to save the city whenever it fell under barbarian siege. Miraculous healing of the sick was especially associated with the crypt where Dimitrios was martyred, which lies beneath the enormous 5th-century church named after him (opposite).
During the Turkish occupation, however, the crypt was filled in and forgotten, only to be recovered after the Greek capture of Thessaloniki in 1912. The devastating fire of 1917 caused extensive damage to both church and crypt, necessitating much conservation work.
Open regularly to the public, the stone-and-brick crypt is mazelike and hauntingly lit, and displays archaeological finds from the ancient church. For a truly unearthly and uniquely Thessaloniki experience, descend into this other world of pungent incense and prayer at the special liturgy held here every Friday from 9pm to 11pm. People file in