Church of Agia Sofia, Thessaloniki, Greece
Byzantine Architecture
But before that a little bit about Byzantine architecture: It is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Later Roman or Eastern Roman Empire. Buildings have increased geometric complexity compared to the basilicas that existed then. Brick and plaster were used in addition to stone in the decoration of important public structures. Mosaics replaced carved decoration; we did see colorful mosaic works. The complex domes rested upon massive piers, and windows filtered light through thin sheets of alabaster to softly illuminate interiors (check one of my pics where I captured light streaming in.). Most of the surviving structures are sacred in nature, with secular buildings mostly known only through contemporaneous descriptions. This kind of architecture flourished in countries like Bulgaria, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine, Macedonia, and other Orthodox countries.
Church of Agia Sofia
Church of Agia Sofia, don’t mistake it with its namesake at Turkey. This one is a much smaller one. This church is one of the 17 UNESCO Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki. Church of Agia Sofia was built over the ruins of a Roman building and an early Christian basilica. In 1585 it was converted to mosque by the Turks. During 1907 10 this was reconstructed and dedicated for Christian worship in 1912. Wars also contributed to this beautiful monument’s damage. An Italian air raid damaged its elegant Turkish portico in 1941. Nature too played a devastating role and it was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1978.
The church doesn’t have an attractive exterior, but the interiors can leave you stunned. Some portions of the old mosaics have survived all these centuries inspite of all damages outsides.
It was morning of Dec 26th, 2014, as expected there was a good crowd of people. We waited for sometime, few other tourists like us too were there waiting for the service and prayers to be over. None of us wanted to disturb the solemn atmosphere for sure. Once majority of the crowd dispersed we took pictures.
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The mosaic work on the dome depicts ascension It was magical seeing the light streaming in.
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I am going to Greece soon with my family. Seeing these pictures is great it gives me a good idea what I can expect when we go there. Beautiful buildings with such history, thanks for sharing
Amazing craftsmanship and equally amazing captures.
Thanks, Indrani! I am refreshing my knowledge about historic costumes only because of you!
A Byzantine church! Wow! I am actually holding my copy of Historic Costumes book and comparing the costumes!! I guess, this church belongs to early Byzantine period as it depicts the stola/chiton and palla instead of tunics. How exciting is that!
Very interesting presentation of my hometown!
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the virtual tour of this place Indrani. Very nice pictures.
Lovely post. I had visited Rome recently and see that the churches there are very different. The architecture, the imagery, and the overall feel! Good to see a different picture from another era.
Beautiful Photos 🙂
The picture of the interior in green is so beautiful.
So beautiful photos
You are right : the interior is stunning . Amazing that it survived wars and earthquakes.
I have seen many beautiful churches in Greece, but this one is magnificent. Thanks for taking the trouble to share it with us. Have a great week.
Wil, ABCW Team.
Thnx Indrani ji
The architecture looks different for a church and murals inside are so gorgeous! Nice photos!
Hi Yogi Saraswat, Byzantine architecture comes in the category of ancient architecture. Roman architecture belongs to medieval period. The buildings of Europe that you have seen may belong to this medieval period, hence they look similar.
I hope this satisfies. You can also have a look at the link I gave.
Lovely, the artistic look of church is so impressive and well captured
Beautiful indeed . But Indrani ji , I have a question here , most of the castles, buildings are of same architect style in Europe ? is it Roman architect ? If you will focus on Indian style it is diiferent according to Region , it may be different in Northern or in Southern part of India. But in Europian countries , it is almost same?
Beautiful captures Indrani…would love to visit them sometime…
Awesome. How do they maintain all this for centuries? TFS
Beautiful Indeed Indrani 🙂 breathtaking pictures!
Look forward to more such great posts!
-Nikshep
Those are amazing interiors – I wouldn't have guessed it from the outside.
Loved the interiors and the pics…The simple elegance matched with the pompous interior true mark of character
Exquisite!
Beautiful art form Indrani.
Good observation there Kokila. I am not sure what those ropes are for.
Thank you for the comment.
The Church is indeed beautiful.Loved the marvellous frescos ..I was not aware that such a colorful palette of bright yellows, lemons and reds existed in ancient Greece ! Somehow I always limited them to shades of blues and greens..
And yes, I noticed that pic with light streaming in:)
And I also liked its exterior as presented in the second and the third pic. Are those ropes running down from a tower bellropes ?
Many thanks for the lovely comments friends.
Renuka, thank you for the correction. 🙂
Great photos! I am intrigued to visit Greece now. (By the way, did you intend to write 'Grrece' in the title?)
A good Narrative… Nice Photos!
Glad to know about this church. Wonderful captures, Indrani.
Hello Indrani, what a pretty church. The inside is just beautiful. Gorgeous photos! Thanks for sharing, have a happy week!
Interesting post and beautiful pictures !
Great shots!
Wow – the tiled interior is gorgeous!
These interiors hold such mysteries. wonderful shots.
Wonderful..!
Thank you for edifying us, Indrani
ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
<3
That is a stunning church.. particularly on the inside. You must have been in awe standing there.
imposing structure, but wonderful art!
Hello Indrani!!
I have'nt visit Thessaloniki!!It's a beautiful city and port!The Church of Agia Sofia is so impressive!Your pictures are gorgeous!Thank you for sharing and thank you for your wishes!Have a happy week!
Dimi…
You are right, Indrani, the inside of the church is awesome indeed! Breathtaking and so are your captures for the day!!