Thessaloniki Church of Panagia Acheropoietos

Location: Egnatia

The church of Panagia Acheropoietos in the heart of Thessaloniki is the most important example of an early Christian basilica surviving in Greece. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and thus celebrated on August 15th, the day of Her Dormition. The label Acheropoietos, translating to “not made by human hands ” was first found in a document dating to 1320 and is probably intertwined with an icon of Panagia Deomeni (the Supplicating Virgin Mary) housed in the church.

The church was established in the mid-5th century AD and was built on the ruins of a Roman bath. Some elements of that period are still visible, including the Ionic capitals made in Constantinople and a few decorative representations in the form of mosaics. It is a three-aisled basilica with a porch, ending in a semicircular apse. A narthex and the remains of an exonarthex are seen west of the church. The three naves are separated by colonnades, with the northern nave connecting to the Byzantine chapel of Agia Irini. The few frescoes in the south aisle that have barely survived date from the early 13th century. The depicted military saints are part of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.

Panagia Acheropoietos was the first Christian church to be converted into a mosque (called Eski Camii) after Murad II conquered Thessaloniki in 1430. It served as the official mosque of the Ottomans throughout their rule, which ended in 1912. In 1917, the building was used as a camp for the victims of a fire that destroyed the largest part of the city. A few years later, after the Greco-Turkish War and the burning of Smyrna in 1922, refugees from Asia Minor found shelter there.
Following extensive restoration work, Acheropoietos was again used as a church. Nowadays, it is a member of UNESCO's List of Sites of Cultural Heritage. 

You are advised to avoid wearing shorts and sleeveless tops if you want to enter the church.

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