What I can see

The city’s market had already developed since the Byzantine years around the church of Agios Minas. Even today, the church is surrounded by shops and the flows of residents and visitors maintain this historical mobility. The church we see today is the reconstructed version of the original one, as it was restored during the years of the Ottoman rule. From the original basilica of the 5th century AD, only the niche of the sanctuary is preserved and some architectural members are exhibited in the Museum of Byzantine Culture. The newer church is a three-aisled basilica with an arch in the middle aisle, an indoor arcade with chapels and elliptical openings on the western and eastern walls, above the entrance and the sanctuary respectively. The interior decoration has neoclassical and baroque-rococo influences from central Europe and had been a refreshing example for other churches that were restored in that period in the broader area. The gilded wood-carved pulpit and the episcopal throne stand out. The marble slabs at the entrance commemorate the destruction and restoration of the church after the fire of 1839 and the earthquake of 1978.

What I can't see

It is a church that has been destroyed many times by fires (1770, 1818, 1839, 1890), looting and bombing. That is why it was called “Burnt Monastery” (Yanik Manastir) in Turkish documents. During the Ottoman era, Christians did not have the right to build new churches, but only to restore older ones, only after special permission and usually through donations from wealthy Christians. The church of Agios Minas was one of the few Christian churches that remained under the control of Christians during that period. This is where the first doxology of Thessaloniki took place, after the city had become Greek territory.

Info

• Address: 10 Ionos Dragoumi St.
• Postal Code : 54624

Bibliography