Church of the Holy Apostles

As we stand in the southeast corner of the Ancient Agora, surrounded by the skeletal remains of classical antiquity, the Church of the Holy Apostles, or 'Agii Apostoli Solaki,' emerges as a vibrant island of Byzantine continuity.…

Before we look at the church itself, we must look beneath it. The Church of the Holy Apostles was built partly over the remains of a second-century Roman Nymphaeum—a monumental fountain house dedicated to the nymphs. …

Observe the exterior of the church. You are looking at the 'Athenian type' of church design. …

Step inside the church, and you will immediately feel the change in atmosphere. The interior is intimate and vertical, designed to draw the eye upward toward the Pantocrator in the dome. …

Although the church suffered during the Ottoman period and the Greek War of Independence, it still preserves remarkable frescoes. Most of the surviving wall paintings date from the 17th century, representing a later phase of…

The building you see today is the result of one of the most successful archaeological restorations in Greece. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the church was almost unrecognizable, obscured by a series of later additions,…

To conclude our tour of the Holy Apostles, let us consider its survival. For 1,000 years, this building has witnessed the rise and fall of empires from its vantage point in the Agora. …

As we leave the Church of the Holy Apostles, we take with us a sense of the incredible layering of Athenian history. We have seen how a 10th-century Byzantine masterpiece was built upon 2nd-century Roman foundations, and how it…