We have previously shown readers this church before, but recently some better photographs came to light, and one can rarely have too much of a good thing where this sort of thing is concerned, so I decided it was worth the revisit, particularly as I have attempted to show both the interesting architectural unity that can be found in historical Byzantine churches, and also in view of the fact that what these true 'Byzantine' churches really are, in fact, are Roman churches -- Eastern Roman churches.
This particular structure has the added advantage that it is located with the ancient agora of Athens -- in short, the main central public place within an ancient Greek city where much business was transacted. In that regard, it is comparable to how we think of the churches that we can still find in the ancient Roman Forum.
The church is thought to date to circa A.D. 950-1000 and the exterior of the church is quite impressive, including decorative 'cufic' patterns that were sometimes employed in Byzantine architecture and said to have had Arabic origins.
The central point of the cross is capped by a great dome (which includes, as one would expect, an image of Christ Pantocrator) and indeed the entire interior was formerly frescoed over at one point with Byzantine iconographic imagery, though very little of that remains today.
Behind the balustrade is a simple presbytery and an equally simple but dignfiied Holy Table (altar).
The screen itself also contains some beautiful carvings on its panels and beams, showcasing Greek crosses and other linear knotwork and designs.
Our attention was initially drawn to this church, however, not for any of those reasons, but rather for reason of the balustrade that can be found within, pointing back to the early, unified Christian sanctuary arrangement of the churches of both East and West.
Behind the balustrade is a simple presbytery and an equally simple but dignfiied Holy Table (altar).
This church has undergone various renovations over the centuries, but it was restored to its original form, seen here, between 1954-1957.
We are fortunate that this particular Byzantine church was saved from destruction when excavations were taking place within the Athenian agora -- a fate that was not shared by many other structures found here.
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