,
Byzantine & Post-Byzantine Monuments,
Cultural heritage
The original church was small and square in plan, with an apse
at the east end and an entrance in the west wall. In each of the four corners
of the building, a small chamber was constructed, thus forming a cross with equal
arms in the area of the naos. The whole west side of the church is now ruined
and the entrance is located on the south side. Of the interior decoration is preserved
the famous mosaic in the conch of the sanctuary, dated to the 5th-6th century
and fragments of wall paintings, dated to the 12th century A.D.
The church was built at the end of the 5th or the beginning of the
6th century, over an earlier, Roman building. It was the catholicon (main church)
of the Latomos Monastery but in 1430, after the conquest of Thessalonike by the
Turks, it was converted into a mosque and the mosaic and fresco decoration was
plastered over. The famous mosaic was discovered when the monument was turned
over to the Christian cult with the liberation of the city, in 1921.
In 1929, excavations were conducted on the interior of the church.
The monument has undergone several phases of restoration and consolidation
over the years. Recently, in 1980 the west wall was restored and in 1991 the propylon
on the south side was reconstructed.
The monument is used as a church.
Byzantine & Post-Byzantine Monuments
Art & culture
- Cultural Heritage
- World Heritage Monument (UNESCO)
- On site monuments
- Churches: Early Byzantine period, AD 324-610
- Monastery: Early Byzantine period, AD 324-610
- Frescoes: Middle Byzantine period, AD 610-1204
- Mosaics: Early Byzantine period, AD 324-610
Principals/HQ/participations...
- As a monument is administered by: