Igreja de Panagia Chalkeon

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About Igreja de Panagia Chalkeon

Panagia Chalkeon (Our Lady of the Coppersmiths) was founded in 1028 by Christophoros, the Byzantine governor of Longobardia, according to the inscription above the west door. The name comes from the coppersmiths who worked in the neighborhood, a tradition still visible in the kitchenware shops on the street in front. Locals call it the Red Church because it is built entirely of brick.

The plan is a cross-in-square with three domes—one central and two over the narthex—featuring arches, pilasters and niches on the exterior that show Constantinople's influence. Inside, 11th-century frescoes have survived, such as the Ascension in the dome, the Virgin in prayer in the apse and a Last Judgment in the narthex, as well as 14th-century paintings on the west wall. The Last Supper in the apse is one of the earliest examples of this scene in a Byzantine sanctuary.

With the Ottoman conquest it became a mosque, and it returned to Christian worship in 1912. Today it is an active Orthodox church, included in 1988 among the fifteen Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Tessalônica inscribed by UNESCO.

It stands in a square lower than the street level, showing how much the city's level has risen in a thousand years, a few meters from the Ágora Romana and the Bey Hamam, the Ottoman bath of 1444.