Church of Agii Anargyri

What I can see

This church was the last “victim” of the destruction of the city’s Byzantine churches during the first years of Greek independence. The original Byzantine church was cruciform double vaulted (the dome had two levels), but we do not know what kind of cruciform it was (e.g. composite or semi-composite), because with the expansion at the beginning of the 20th century, its original architecture was altered to such an extent that today the church looks much more recent. The original church was probably designed according to the local architecture, but it did not have the typical Athenian dome. We do not know exactly how it was, as no drawings survive. Based on research, the surviving parts of the building probably are the dome with the three arches of the cross, the temple, some niches (without their openings) and the 4 columns of Corinthian order, which have been plastered over, their bases have been covered by the newer floor and now have problematic ratio. The pillars of the newer church rest on the foundations of the walls of the older one.

What I can't see

The original church had the typical roofs of cruciform churches with tiles, it did not have a narthex and on the side walls (north and south) there were probably arches in a small recess of the wall. During the Ottoman years, the square was the church’s cemetery and some heroes of the Greek War of Independence were buried here, such as the brothers Nikolaos and Christos Sarris and Panagis Ktenas. During the first years of Greek independence, the church was spared demolition thanks to strong protests by the parishioners. Furthermore, the church was often visited by the writer Alexandros Papadiamantis, who also sang during mass.

Info

• Address: 19 Agion Anargyron St.

Bibliography