Agios Ioannis Prodromos Catacombs

What I can see

South of the church of Agia Sophia and under the street level of Mackenzie King Street, we see the ruins of a public fountain and public baths of the Roman period. The fountain was dedicated to the Nymphs and was therefore called Nymphaeum. With the establishment of Christianity, the Nymphaeum was converted into a fountain of holy water, with a basement, where even nowadays John the Baptist is worshipped. The catacombs consist of corridors and three rooms with a dome. In one of these underground rooms there is still a small fountain. From the first steps to the catacombs, the visitor crosses many levels of history. The present church was made of material from the old church (7th century AD), which was first converted into a mosque and subsequently burned down in 1890. Much of it consists of glass, giving a contemporary architectural hue. These catacombs are surviving parts of underground military tunnels of the hellenistic era and later bath heaters for the Stadium. They were used by the early Christians as secret places of worship or connected some of the first Christian churches of the city.

What I can't see

The catacombs probably communicated with the Crypt of Saint Dimitrios and the underground baptistery of Agia Sophia through underground passages, which were maintained until the beginning of the 20th century. In the Roman baths, two consecutive warm rooms and two baths were found. Warm rooms had heated floors, terracotta vents inside the walls and luxurious marble decorations. To the west, a heatedwater chamber followed and then the cold bath. This set up shows that the process had a sequential path from hot over warm to cold and vice versa so that the body could adapt gently to the changing temperatures.

Info

• Address: Iktinou & McKenzie King St.

Bibliography