The church of Panagia Acheiropoietos
The Church of Panagia
Acheiropoietos is located in the central part of
the walled city of Thessalonica,
a short distance to the north of Egnatia
Street. It is mentioned in sources as the large church
of the Virgin Mary; the name Acheiropoietos
is first attested in a document from
1320, doubtless in connection with a devotional icon of the Virgin Mary at
prayer, believed to have been created without human hand, which was kept in the
church. It appears that in Byzantine times the Virgin Mary was venerated
together with the city's patron saint, Agios Demetrius, and that on the latter’s
feast day the litany entered the Church of the Virgin Mary as its principal
station, before proceeding to the Church
of Agios Demetrius. The
church was built after 450, in the third quarter of the 5th century. In 1430,
immediately after the fall of Thessalonica to the Ottomans, Acheiropoietos
was the first church to
be converted into a mosque, which conquest is recorded in a Turkish inscription
on the eighth column in the north colonnade, counting from the east.
From an
architectural point of view, Acheiropoietos
is a three-nave timber roofed
basilica with galleries. The three naves in the main church are
separated by colonnades, while a tribelon opening leads from the narthex
to the nave. The north nave ends to the east in the Middle Byzantine Chapel
of Agia Irini. To the east, the central nave ends in a semicircular conch
with a synthronon and episcopal throne. The triple-light window
with pillars replaced the original five-light window with mullions.
The marble altar screen is modern; traces on the floor reveal that the
original one ended at the third column from the east. To the west is the narthex,
with visible traces of an exonarthex, which perhaps correspond to the
east portico of the atrium that would have been extended to the west. On
the south side of the building there is a monumental propylon, probably
because the church was connected to the city’s main thoroughfare, known as the Leophoros
or Avenue. An outbuilding next to the propylon is believed to have been
the baptistry.
The three successive floors in the north nave of the basilica belong to
an earlier Roman bath.
Over
the course of its history the monument has undergone a series of alterations, distorting
its original form to some degree. The
most serious of these include destruction of the original roof, degradation of
the upper part of the central nave (leading to the loss of the skylight), and
demolition of the west gallery and exonarthex.
Thanks to the robustness and
external grandeur of the basilica, the harmony and balance of its
internal layout, the high artistic merit of its mosaic and sculpture decoration
and its marble floor, the church is considered one of the most important
examples of its kind in the whole of Greece.
The sculpture decoration forms a unified whole designed and executed for this
particular basilica. Of particular importance are the mid-5th
century Theodosian capitals, which share features with those from Constantinople, and the Thessalian marble columns in the
tribelon.
The high quality mosaics in
the colonnade intrados on the ground floor and south gallery, the
narthex and the window of the west wall should be assigned to the same
period in; they depict crosses, water vessels, birds, fruit, fish and other
themes with religious symbolism, in symmetrical arrangement. The sponsor of the
mosaics is referred to as Andrew, on the intrados of the central and south arc
of the tribelon. He has been identified as the priest who took part in the
Council of Chalcedon (451) as representative of the Archbishop of Thessalonica,
which fits in with the dating of the mosaics to the second half of the 5th
century.
All that survives from the
Byzantine period are a few poorly preserved murals in the south nave, on the
wall above the south colonnade. The eighteen figures alternately shown
in profile and full face form part of a depiction of the Forty Martyrs of
Sebaste, which dates to the early decades of the 13th century.
The church has undergone repeated
renovation work since the early 20th century, including drastic alterations to
the supporting structure and extensive rebuilding of the damaged or dilapidated
sections. Recently completed large-scale
maintenance and restoration projects were aimed at repairing the damage caused
to the monument by the 1978 earthquake, and guaranteeing the monument’s overall
structural stability.
Glossary (17)
colonnade:
sequence of columns placed in and around buildings.
three nave basilica:
a basilica with three naves.
gallery or tribune:
upper story of a church above the side naves and the narthex.
narthex:
oblong reception area
extending
along
the western side
of a basilica. Originally the east portico
of the atrium,
it was later
incorporated into the
church, and served
as a waiting area for catechumens, who were not allowed to
attend the Divine
Liturgy.
conch (Sanctuary niche):
Niche
in the eastern end
of a basilica. Semicircular on the inside, with a horseshoe shaped, rectangular or polygonal exterior.
synthronon:
semicircular stone or marble tiered structure of benches within the apse of early Christian churches, serving as a seat for the clergy. The episcopal throne was placed at the center.
triple-light window:
window with three openings that form an arc at the top.
piers or pillars:
supports of square or rectangular cross-section. They are usually freestanding (not attached to a wall), made of built masonry.
mullion:
Architectural feature commonly used for the separation of double or triple-light windows in churches. Mullions consist of two half-columns attached to the sides of a rectangular pier, projecting both inwards and outwards from the temple. They consist of a base, an unfluted shaft, a simplified capital and an impost.
altarscreen or templon:
screen separating the
altar area
from the
rest of the
church. This
can be
of marble
or
wood,
adorned with
wall paintings
and icons depicting Christ,
the Virgin Mary, St. John
the Baptist,
the saint to
whom the church is consecrated,
the Apostles
and other saints.
exonarthex or outer narthex:
external
gallery
in the western
part of a church,
between the narthex
and the atrium.
atrium:
quadrangular forecourt of basilicas, surrounded by porticos. Porticos had functional purposes: they served as a waiting place before entering the church for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and provided shelter for the congregation. Generally, the atrium isolated the church from the surrounding space. It contained fountains for the symbolic cleansing of the hands and feet and for performing the service of Sanctification.
propylon:
the monumental entrance to sacred enclosures or imperial palaces.
baptistry:
architectural structure for the Baptismal Rite, used until the introduction of infant baptsim in the 6th century. It could be part of a church or freestanding, in which case it was usually a centrally planned building with a cruciform font embedded in the floor. Its dome was often decorated with the scene of the Baptismal Rite.
basilica:
type of large church, divided internally into three or more naves. The central nave was usually covered by a raised roof with windows that illuminated the space.
theodosian composite capital:
variation on the simple Corinthian capital, in which the band of volutes is replaced by an Ionic capital, with an astragal added to the base of the basket. Characterized by the jagged contour of the acanthus and deep carving, the technique creates deep shadows. It was named after the period of maximum usage, roughly coinciding with the Reign of Theodosius II in the first half of the 5th century (408-450).
mosaic:
patterns or
images composed of small, colored tesserae. Mosaic
decoration can
be applied
to all the surfaces
of a building:
floor, walls or ceiling.
Information Texts (0)
Bibliography (8)
1. Κουρκουτίδου - Νικολαϊδου Ε., Αχειροποίητος. Ο μεγάλος ναός της Θεοτόκου, Thessaloniki, 1989
2. Τούρτα Α., Κουρκουτίδου - Νικολαϊδου Ε., "Περίπατοι στη Βυζαντινή Θεσσαλονίκη", 1997
3. ΜΑΥΡΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ- ΤΣΙΟΥΜΗ Χ., Μπακιρτζής Χαράλαμπος, Ψηφιδωτά της Θεσσαλονίκης. 4ος-14ος αιώνας, Καπόν, Athens, 2012
4. Μπακιρτζής Χαράλαμπος, ‘Ρωμαϊκός λουτρών και η Αχειροποίητος της Θεσσαλονίκης’ in Αφιέρωμα στη Μνήμη Στυλιανού Πελεκανίδη, Thessaloniki, 1983
5. Ξυγγόπουλος Α., Καταφυγή- Αχειροποίητος, 1955-1960
6. Ράπτης Κ., Παρατηρήσεις επί ορισμένων δομικών στοιχείων της Αχειροποιήτου, 1999
7. Ζόμπου - Ασήμη Α., Ράπτης Κ., ‘Αχειροποίητος Θεσσαλονίκης: παρατηρήσεις και σκέψεις σχετικά με την οικοδομική ιστορία και την αποκατάσταση της παλαιοχριστιανικής βασιλικής’ in Εν Χώρω Τεχνήεσσα: Αφιέρωμα στην καθηγήτρια Ξανθίππη Σκαρπιά-Χόιπελ, Thessaloniki, 2011
8. Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Τουρισμού | Αχειροποίητος, http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/gh251.jsp?obj_id=6970
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