Hagios Demetrios (Church of St. Demetrios), Thessaloniki (must see)

Church of Saint Demetrios is a Paleochristian and Byzantine Monument of Thessaloniki. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

Demetrios was born in 270 AD. He rose to a high rank in the Roman army and secretly converted many Romans to the Christian faith. Emperor Galerius Maximianus, persecutor of Christians, had Demetrios killed and his body dumped into a bath house. Demetrios is referred as a military saint. He is credited with guarding the city through its many sieges.

A church was built over the bath house where Demetrios was killed. The prefect of Illyricum later replaced the church with a three aisled basilica. In the 7th century the basilica was rebuilt after a fire. The rebuilt basilica had five aisles and took the form it retains today.

After the Great Fire of 1917 the Church of Hagios Demetrios was a charred ruin. Restoration began in 1925. Bricks as well as tombstones from the Jewish Cemetery were used. In the fire of 1917, 30 synagogues were destroyed.

Only nine mosaics from the 5th through the 9th centuries survived the fire. They depict children making offerings to the saint, the saint with priests, and the saint with patrons of the church. The mosaics are mostly on the west wall of the nave.

The columns of the central nave vary in height and color. The variation in height is compensated for by adjustment of the bases. The motifs of the capitals involve Theodosian capitals, doves, rams, eagles and acanthus leaves.

The crypt is below the altar. It functions as a museum and contains artifacts excavated from ruins of the fire.