Athens' Churches (an Introduction) and a Map to Go On
Ali Haseki’s Defensive Wall Superimposed on Modern Athens
All of the
Churches are within the three meter high defensive wall built by the Voivode Hadji
Ali "Haseki" in 1778 (see map). This perimeter graphically illustrates how small
Athens was before Independence. In 1810, Hobhouse, Byron’s travelling companion,
wrote that he had walked the entire perimeter of the wall in forty seven minutes. Therefore all of
the churches described are within walking distance of each other no matter
where you start. Not all are Byzantine; some are grand, some tiny, but all have
a tale to tell. After
several tries I decided not to describe the churches as if on a walking tour, - too
exhausting and too much at once. I will, however, put them in an order at the end of the text that
suggests a rather meandering walk through the old city. Only Ag Apostoli Solaki
in the Agora stubbornly refuses to cooperate with this scheme. Luckily it is
worth a small detour. The map plus the descriptions provided for each church should
be enough to allow you to enter at the spot or the church which strikes your
fancy or the time available. But first, a little history…
Athens
During the
Byzantine era Athens was a small agricultural town that had one or two moments of
prosperity but was otherwise more famous for being famous than a prime mover
and shaker of medieval history. A lot of what is known is known indirectly, by
later accounts or by ruins. It had a flurry of prosperity in the eighth century when Athens produced two empresses of
note who endowed the city, and then it pretty much snoozed until the 11th
century when the Macedonian Dynasty managed to consolidate the empire and
Athens underwent the renaissance that has produced the Byzantine churches still
standing in the city. During this time many monasteries in Attica including the
one in Daphni, a product of direct imperial largess, were built. Athens did
have a civil, military, and ecclesiastical administration throughout its
medieval history and there was even a kind of local aristocracy. But any
administrators sent from Constantinople did not regard Athens as a plum position,
including Michael Acominatos, archbishop of Athens from 1182 to 1205. His rant both against his flock and the
Byzantine tax collectors makes good reading. The citadel of the Acropolis
provided protection, but not enough: in 1205 the Franks took over here as they
had in Constantinople a year earlier. Franks was the term for all Europeans at
the time and they ruled in Athens until 1456 when the Ottoman Turks took
over. The first Franks really were French and Athens became a Dukedom
under the Duke of Athens, some Orthodox churches were converted to the Catholic
rite, and the fleur-de-lis got carved here and there on several churches; some were
even repaired. Duke Nerio 1 (1387-95) created a Florentine palace in the Acropolis
propylaia – a renovation the Turkish leader would come to enjoy as well. About the only thing that has lasted from this
era in Athens are one or two ruined windows with pointed arches, partly because
no one in the 19th century really wanted to remember this period of
non Orthodox rule.
Athens was tiny then. During the Frankish
period it was huddled on the lower slopes of the Acropolis inside the defensive
wall created by the Romans after they had conquered the city. It was about half
the size of today’s Plaka.
More is
known about the Ottoman period. The town grew under the Ottomans, - enough by
1778 to fill in the inside the Ali Haseki’s wall although there was still farmland
and gardens around the houses. Hobhouse estimated that there were 12-1300
houses and of those perhaps one third were Turkish the rest Greek or Albanian. For our purposes it is enough to know that by
the 1700s Athens was divided into 36 parishes, each one centered on a parish
church. These churches were the core of each neighbourhood. Then, as now, in
small villages each area was popularly identified with the name of its Parish church.
Most likely the nicknames (usually donor’s name) given to the churches were to
distinguish them from other churches in town dedicated to the same saint. There
were a lot of churches: rich ones, poor ones, some dependencies of monasteries and
some private.
And today, almost two hundred years after
Independence, Athens is a mega city, but the tendency of Athenians to build churches
has never waned, nor their affection for them once they have been erected. This
is evident when walking inside the area once closed by Ali Haseki’s walls. Their
number in such a small area is still amazing.
The Churches in the Order Suitable
for a Meandering Walk
1.
Ag Georgios
on the Rock and Ag Symeon (in Anafiotika)
2.
Church of
the Metamorphosis
3.
Panagia
Chryssokastriotissa
4.
Agioi.
Anargyri
5.
Ag. Ioannis (Saint John)
6.
Agios Nikolaos Rangavas
7.
Ag
Aikaterini
8.
Agia Sotira tou
Kottakis
9.
Sotira
Lykodemou
10.
Ag. Dynami
11.
The Mitropolis
12.
Panagia Gorgoepikoos
13.
Panagia
Kapnikaria
14.
Ag Asomatos
on the Steps
15.
Megali
Panagia inside Hadrian’s Library
16.
Pantanassa, Monastiraki
17.
Ag Ioannis Around the Column
18.
Agioi
Anargyroi, Psirri
19.
Agioi
Theodoroi, Klafthmonos Square
And in the Agora Archaeological
Site: Agioi Apostoli Solaki (The Holy Apostles)
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