Church of Saint Gregory Palamas
Saint Gregory Palamas Church | |
---|---|
Ιερός Ναός του Αγίου Γρηγορίου Παλαμά | |
Location | Thessaloniki |
Country | Greece |
Denomination | Greek Orthodox Church |
History | |
Relics held | Saint Gregory Palamas |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) |
|
Groundbreaking | 1891 |
Completed | 1914 |
Administration | |
Metropolis | Metropolis of Thessaloniki |
The Metropolitan Church of Saint Gregory Palamas (
History
Old church building
The church is located in the centre of the city, at the intersection of Metropolis and Hagia Sophia streets. A church dedicated to
On 22 August 1890, this church was completely destroyed by a large fire. In October 1890, Metropolitan
New church building
Ernst Ziller was chosen as the architect of the building. In the same year of 1890, he was also one of the architects who drew up the plans for the Metropolitan Church of Panagia Faneromeni in Aigio, which is the reason why the two churches architecturally resemble each other. The supervision of the project was entrusted to Ziller's student Achilleas Kambanakis. The foundation stone of the church was laid on 16 June 1891 by Metropolitan Sophronios.[4] Construction was hampered because the soil was unstable, since the site was close to the sea.[5] Work halted in 1892 because the municipality accused the design contractors of using poor-quality materials, and of deviating from Ziller's original plan. Kambanakis was dismissed, and Konstantinos Kokinakis was appointed in his place, but Kambanakis refused to provide the designs, and Ziller stated that he had no copies. As a result, construction stopped, and the municipality spent the money.[4]
The outbreak of the
The construction of the church went along with the construction of the Greek Consulate General (1890–1893), today the Museum for the Macedonian Struggle, also the work of Ziller.[4][1] The two buildings are connected by a secret door and were the headquarters of the Greek armed propaganda in Macedonia from 1904–1908.[6]
The church was inaugurated when the city was already part of Greece, on 21 April 1914 by Metropolitan Gennadios (1912–1951). As the old St. Demetrios Cathedral was now a Christian church again,[6] the new metropolitan church was dedicated to St. Gregory Palamas instead of St. Demetrios.
The 1978 Thessaloniki earthquake caused extensive damage to the church. The probable cause was the poor materials used in the original construction and the deviations from Ziller's original plans. Some people called for its demolition,[6] while others wanted it to be repaired. Finally, after significant reconstruction, the church was reopened on 13 November 1980.
Architecture
The architecture of the church was atypical for the time. In the 19th century, three-aisled
and there are four tall bell towers on four sides of the building.The interior was painted by the Constantinople painter Nikolaos Kessanlis, who arrived in Thessaloniki in April 1911.[6] The relics of Gregory Palamas are kept in the church.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Άγιος Γρηγόριος ο Παλαμάς". Thessaloniki 4 all (in Greek). 11 July 2016.
- ^ Τερμεντζόγλου, Γεώργιος Κ (2013). Εγκαίνια νεότερων ναών της Θεσσαλονίκης (1912-2011) (PDF) (in Greek). Θεσσαλονίκη: Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης, Θεολογική Σχολή, Τμήμα Ποιμαντικής και Κοινωνικής Θεολογίας. p. 14.
- ^ a b Termentzoglou 2013, p. 15.
- ^ a b c d Termentzoglou 2013, p. 16.
- ^ Termentzoglou 2013, p. 18.
- ^ a b c d e Termentzoglou 2013, p. 17.
Sources
- Termentzoglou, Georgios K. (2013). Εγκαίνια νεότερων ναών της Θεσσαλονίκης (1912-2011) [Inaugurations of modern churches in Thessaloniki (1912-2011)] (PDF) (in Greek). Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Theology.