Aghios Demetrios, Thessaloniki

One afternoon, three Greek teachers from our hostschool, Anastasia, Christos and Panagiotis, the religion teacher,

took us to Thessaloniki’s most famous church: Aghios Demetrios.

Agios Demitrios (Saint Dimitri) was a third century Christian scholar who was martyred by Galerius and whose ghost has apparently appeared at several key battlesites. The significance of Agios Demitrios has led to the construction of Greece’s largest church on his birthplace in Thessaloniki. The church was converted into a mosque by the Turks, who plastered over its interior walls. When these were uncovered after the return of the church to the Greeks, it was discovered that the church also possessed the finest mosaics in Greece. Inside you will find exquisite icons and lots of gold, as well as the relics of Agios Dimitrios. It is a common practice for believers to kiss the case containing his relics and also to slip sheets of paper with prayers into the cracks.

For most of us it was a real discovery of Greek orthodox churches.

The two PDF documents below may help you to understand and appreciate more Philippe’s pictures.

Hagios Demetrios, Thessaloniki

Hagios Demetrios

At the end of the visit, we went down to the crypt.