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Church of the Holy Apostles
Athens, Greece
Mike's review
Visited 2019The Church of the Holy Apostles is a good pause because it shifts the Agora from ancient civic Athens into Byzantine Athens. It sits right in the archaeological site, small enough to miss if you are only chasing temples.
I liked the contrast: older ruins around it, a compact church form, and interior details that make the Agora feel like a place reused across centuries.
From the source
The Church of the Holy Apostles stands near the southeast corner of the Athenian Agora, close to the Panathenaic Way. Built in the last quarter of the tenth century, it uses a cross-in-square plan with four curved apses around a central dome. The church rests partly on the foundations of a second-century Roman fountain building.
Fighting in 1687 and again during the Greek War of Independence damaged the church, and later repairs changed its western end. The American School of Classical Studies removed nineteenth-century additions and restored the earlier form between 1954 and 1956. Wall paintings from several periods remain inside. It is one of the few structures in the Agora to have stood continuously since the medieval period. Access follows the Athenian Agora site schedule, though the interior can close for conservation.
Supporting sources: Legacy import provenance, Wikipedia
Plan your visit
Hours
Apr-Oct daily 08:00-19:30, with earlier seasonal closing in late September and October; Nov-Mar daily 08:00-17:00.
Features & amenities
What to expect
- Indoor + outdoor
Good to know
- Photos allowed
Tags
More near here
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Planning Athens
The rest of my Athens saves, on the city's planning pages.