Church and Crypt of Saint Demetrios (Thessaloniki)

Who we are

The Church of Saint Demetrios was built on the ruins of a Roman bath. The first church, a small oratory, was built after 313. In the 5th century the prefect Leontios built a large three-aisled basilica, which burned down in 626–634. Immediately afterwards the five-aisled basilica was built. In 1493 it was converted into a mosque. In 1912 it was restored to Christian worship. It burned down in the great fire of 1917 and reopened in 1949, after its restoration was completed. In the crypt of the church an exhibition was organised of antiquities that were saved from the fire or found during the excavation investigations. The monument functions today as a church. The Church of Saint Demetrios is a five-aisled basilica with a narthex and a transept, with a crypt beneath the sanctuary and the transept, and the chapel of Saint Euthymios attached to its south-eastern corner. From the fire of 1917 only remnants survived of the church's splendid sculptural and pictorial (mosaics, wall paintings) decoration, representing the various phases of its history. After the fire of 1917, restoration works began that were interrupted in 1938, resumed in 1946, and the monument reopened in 1949. As part of the restoration works, various excavation investigations were carried out in the church and the crypt after the fire of 1917 and in 1946–1949. After its discovery (1918), the crypt of the Church of Saint Demetrios remained an archaeological site. After 1950, some of the sculptures that were saved from the fire were placed by St. Pelekanidis in the spaces surrounding the fountain, in an effort to arrange the area. During 1985–88, excavation works were carried out in the northern compartments of the Crypt, conservation works took place, and the exhibition of antiquities saved from the fire or found in the excavations was organised.

Managing authority

Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Thessaloniki

General information

Address

83 Agiou Dimitriou, Thessaloniki 54633

Opening hours

Opening hours of the holy church: 06:00-22:00. Opening hours of the crypt – catacomb of the holy church: daily except Friday 08:00-15:00 & Fridays 08:00-13:00 and 19:00-21:00.

How to get here