Athens is a unique city, each corner of which is hiding a unique sculpture, the monument of architecture, the church or an important historic place. You can find such locations not only in the lively streets of the city but also within its suburban areas. While Athens’ western suburban territories house the Monastery of Daphni, its south-east preserves one of the Athens oldest temples – the Church of the Holy Apostles. The city guides often regard it as the church of the Holy Apostles Solaki or Agii Apostoli.
Built in the X century BC, the church is not only an excellent example of the pre-Reformation diversity in Christianity but also the first significant church in Athens of the middle Byzantine period. This building is considered to be the distinguishing landmark for the European artistic tradition. The Church of the Holy Apostles with its marble floor, a painted dome, held by huge columns, and an exquisite altar, is both Greek and Christian; both simple and fascinating; both old and reliable.
Despite its beauty and grace, the church keeps on causing a lot of controversies among historians. Some of them consider that the name of “Solakis” derived from the last name of the sponsors who took part in its reconstruction. This hypothesis is evidenced by the sarcophagi, found in the northern vestibule. The legends say that the famous sponsor was buried there. According to the Byzantine traditions, he had the right to be buried there as well as his relatives.
The opponents of this theory consider that this word was the name of the district, the church stands in. In the XIX century, it was the home for many rich and powerful residents of Athens.
Anyway, this church is of significant cultural and historic value for people as it is one of the few historical buildings on the Ancient Agora of Athens that survived until nowadays and preserved almost original appearance, despite the numerous fires and attacks of the vagrant tribes. The place of the building’s construction is one of the main secrets for all historians.
The church is of particular value for visitors who get profound knowledge in architecture. It was the place of birth for the trend of building cross-domed churches with four columns in Greece.
The first thing that catches your eye when exploring this church is its peculiar location. On one side of the building, there was a protection wall, delaying the enemy troops’ quick access into the city. On the other side, there was Panathenaic Way. It is also worth to mention one more peculiar fact about the location of the church: like most of the religious constructions in Greece, this building is standing on the place that was formerly known as the stamping ground, where people prayed and praised to their old gods. In the II century, this place was the home for the temple of nymphs, hosting colorful ceremonies and celebrations.
This religious temple is one of the oldest churches in Athens. The excavations in the area evidence that the building had already existed in the X century. The eastern part of the church has come to the present almost unchanged, while its western part went through slight changes in the XIX century. Unfortunately, the building did not benefit from that: a part of the wall was significantly damaged. After the excavations, useless building components were destroyed to return the building to its original appearance. Thus, on 12 February 1954, the Department of Antiquities of the Ministry of Education approved the permit about the demolition of modern construction to bring an original appearance to the Church of the Holy Apostles. On 22 February, two workers started to remove the finishing from the walls to determine the initial wall dimensions. Under a thick layer of paint and facing plaster, they found the Byzantine masonry that was in excellent state. It looked like the eastern part of the church. It was laid out in the lower part of the north wall to the door and the bell tower. The initial length of this wall is still unknown. The southern wall suffered from big destruction. There is a small original masonry to the west of the south apse above the lower course.
The works on the building renovation were financed by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and supervised by Alison Frantz. The main renovation and reconstruction works were completed in 1956.
The constructive elements of the church – the walls, the columns, and the arches – were renovated by the end of the summer of 1955. Most works were held at an accelerated pace to make this monument of history accessible for visitors in 1956:
The watercolor of Saint Anthony and Saint Spyridon by Piet de Jong deserve particular attention, they were painted before their removal from the Church of Saint Spyridon in the 1930s. Piet de Jong is a notable archeological illustrator who joined the members of the group, conducting excavations of the ancient Agora in 1932. These two paintings are the smallest part of his merits. They are an illustrative proof of his talent to subtly capture the color and the smallest details, which allowed him to paint concise, but, at the same time, very complex artworks.
Since the Church of the Holy Apostles stands not far from the city center, you can access it on foot. A walk from the Syntagma metro station will take you no more than 20 minutes.
If you are coming by bus, you should leave it at the bus stop Thissio or Monastiraki, depending on the route.
