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Church of Panagia Chalkeon
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Church of Panagia Chalkeon
The Church of Panagia Chalkeon (Greek: Παναγία τῶν Χαλκέων) is an 11th-century Byzantine church in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. The church's well-preserved Byzantine architecture and testimony to the importance of Thessaloniki in early and medieval Christianity led it to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988 along with other Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki.
The church is located at Dikastirion Square, north of the Via Egnatia at the point where it crosses Aristotelous Avenue, which leads to Aristotelous Square. The archaeological site of the city's Roman forum is located northeast, while its name, which translates as "the Virgin of the Copper-smiths", derives from its proximity to the area traditionally occupied by the city's coppersmiths.
According to the founder's inscription above the west entrance, the church was built in 1028 by the protospatharios Christopher, katepano of Longobardia, and his wife, son, and two daughters. The inscription reads:
This once profane place is dedicated as an eminent church to the Mother of God by Christopher, the most illustrious royal protospatharios and governor of Lagouvardia, and his wife Maria, and their children Nicephorus, Anna, and Catacale, in the month of September, indiction XII, in the year 6537. (The Byzantine Calendar year 6537 Anno Mundi is equivalent to the year 1028 Anno Domini.)
Christopher's tomb was probably located in an arcosolium on the church's northern wall.
The ground plan is that of a classic "cross-in-square-form" typical of Macedonian-period architecture, with four columns and three domes, one central and two over the narthex. The entire building is built of bricks, which gave it the popular nickname "Red Church" (Κόκκινη Εκκλησιά). The exterior is enlivened with a variety of arches and pilasters, elements which can be traced to Constantinopolitan influence. The use of arches with several setbacks gives the building a "sculpted" appearance. A marble cornice runs around the whole church, giving the building distinctive upper and lower sections. The lower section is more spare, while the upper section is decoratively distinguished by half-columns between arches, and saw-tooth courses where the wall meets the roof.
The interior of the church is divided into three sections: The narthex, the naos (the central square of a ‘cross-in-square’ plan), and the sanctuary.
The narthex is covered by three barrel vaults and has an upper gallery that was perhaps used as a sacristy. There was never, however, a stair leading up to it. Anna Tsitouridou speculates that it may have been accessed by a ladder through a now closed up arched window on the northwest corner of the church.
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Church of Panagia Chalkeon
The Church of Panagia Chalkeon (Greek: Παναγία τῶν Χαλκέων) is an 11th-century Byzantine church in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. The church's well-preserved Byzantine architecture and testimony to the importance of Thessaloniki in early and medieval Christianity led it to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988 along with other Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki.
The church is located at Dikastirion Square, north of the Via Egnatia at the point where it crosses Aristotelous Avenue, which leads to Aristotelous Square. The archaeological site of the city's Roman forum is located northeast, while its name, which translates as "the Virgin of the Copper-smiths", derives from its proximity to the area traditionally occupied by the city's coppersmiths.
According to the founder's inscription above the west entrance, the church was built in 1028 by the protospatharios Christopher, katepano of Longobardia, and his wife, son, and two daughters. The inscription reads:
This once profane place is dedicated as an eminent church to the Mother of God by Christopher, the most illustrious royal protospatharios and governor of Lagouvardia, and his wife Maria, and their children Nicephorus, Anna, and Catacale, in the month of September, indiction XII, in the year 6537. (The Byzantine Calendar year 6537 Anno Mundi is equivalent to the year 1028 Anno Domini.)
Christopher's tomb was probably located in an arcosolium on the church's northern wall.
The ground plan is that of a classic "cross-in-square-form" typical of Macedonian-period architecture, with four columns and three domes, one central and two over the narthex. The entire building is built of bricks, which gave it the popular nickname "Red Church" (Κόκκινη Εκκλησιά). The exterior is enlivened with a variety of arches and pilasters, elements which can be traced to Constantinopolitan influence. The use of arches with several setbacks gives the building a "sculpted" appearance. A marble cornice runs around the whole church, giving the building distinctive upper and lower sections. The lower section is more spare, while the upper section is decoratively distinguished by half-columns between arches, and saw-tooth courses where the wall meets the roof.
The interior of the church is divided into three sections: The narthex, the naos (the central square of a ‘cross-in-square’ plan), and the sanctuary.
The narthex is covered by three barrel vaults and has an upper gallery that was perhaps used as a sacristy. There was never, however, a stair leading up to it. Anna Tsitouridou speculates that it may have been accessed by a ladder through a now closed up arched window on the northwest corner of the church.
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