Hagios Nikolaos Orfanos

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Hagios Nikolaos Orfanos church in Thessaloniki
Frescoes on the north wall of the southern section of the gallery, 1310–20
Interior of the church, south wall

Hagios Nikolaos Orfanos ( Greek Άγιος Νικόλαος Ορφανός Agios Nikolaos Orfanos ) is a Byzantine church in the Greek city of Thessaloniki . It has significant wall paintings from the beginning of the 14th century and, together with various other objects in Thessaloniki, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the collective name Early Christian and Byzantine Buildings in Thessaloniki .

history

Today the small church is located in the upper town of Thessaloniki. It was built as a Katholikon , the main church of a monastery. From the former monastery there are only two columns from the entrance gate.

The church was built around 1310-20 and donated by the Serbian King Stefan Uroš II Milutin . He was married to a Byzantine princess and, according to Serbian sources, founded churches and monasteries in Thessaloniki. Despite many different theories about the origins of the Church, most authors today have chosen Milutin as the authorship.

In 1635 and 1638 the name Hagios Nikolaos Orfanos is mentioned in documents of the Vlatades monastery in Thessaloniki, to which the church belonged during the Ottoman period, in a codex from 1745 it is called Hagios Nikolaos ton Orfanon. This probably refers to the legend of St. Nicholas of Myra , who is considered to be the helper of the orphans.

The church was probably originally a three-aisled basilica. Today it consists only of a single nave long room with a three-sided gallery. The access is covered with monopitch roofs, which are dominated by the main room. From the main room, two-arched wall openings lead to the north and south of the gallery, and to the west there is a small gate. The western part of the gallery serves as a narthex . Early Christian capitals were reused to separate the chancel.

The fresco decoration covers the entire interior of the church and is only preserved as completely as here in a few churches in Thessaloniki. It comes from the time the church was founded 1310-20. The arrangement of the pictures follows a classical conception of the paleological time and reflects the hierarchy of the heavenly church. In the lower area of ​​the main room there are saints of warriors and doctors. This is followed by depictions of the Passion and the Dormition of Mary above the west entrance. In the chancel there is the depiction of Mary between two angels, including church fathers.

meaning

The frescoes of the church are among the most important cycles of the early 14th century not only in Thessaloniki, but in the entire Macedonian and Serbian area. The painter is unknown, but there are links to several other churches and monasteries that were also founded by King Milutin, including Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos .

literature

  • E. Kourkoutidou-Nikolaidou / A. Tourta: Walks through Byzantine Thessaloniki . Kapon, Athens 1997

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage List - Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika (English)

Coordinates: 40 ° 38 ′ 15.5 "  N , 22 ° 57 ′ 22.8"  E