The 5th century basilica was burnt after the earthquake of 620 and was renewed at this date, under the care of the Bishop of Thessaloniki and Leo, the Eparch, as we are informed by the mosaic founder's inscription now in the crypt of the nave. (The ciborium now to be found in the north aisle is a modern one.) The base of the hexagonal ciborium is preserved on the floor in the left part of the central aisle. The original, silver ciborium was later replaced by a marble one, containing the coffer, probably a cenotaph, and the saint's icon. In the 5th century, Leontios, eparch of the Illyrikon theme, in gratitude for being cured of illness by the miraculous grace of the martyr, built a large basilica on the same site, and transferred to it the tomb of the saint, which was placed in a ciborium in the central aisle. After the Edict of Milan had proclaimed religious tolerance in 313, a small oecius of worship was created in part of the baths, on the site where the saint was martyred, which was also believed to be the site of his tomb. Demetrios was martyred here too, by being speared to death, and his corpse was buried secretly by his fellow Christians. It is one of the 15 Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki that were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.Īccording to tradition, it was in these baths that the Christian Demetrios, a Roman officer who had been arrested in the Chalkeutiki stoa in the Agora, was imprisoned during the persecution under Diocletian, on the orders of Galerius. On the north side of the Agora, the Church of Hagios Demetrios stands an area where there was a large public baths complex in Roman times.
0 kommentar(er)
