Hagios Demetrios, phase two

Name of structure: Hagios Demetrios, phase two
Extended name of structure:
Type of structure: Church
Country or main area: Greece
Region within country or main area: Macedonia
City or area within region: Thessaloniki
Date of structure:

Three-aisled basilica founded mid-fifth century, reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica after being burned down ca. 620
Century of structure 1: 5 AD
Century of structure 2: 7 AD
Specific place of mosaic:

Walls and pillars
Brief descriptive contents of mosaic:

North face of pier to the right of the sanctuary, Icon of S. Demetrios with the bishop and the eparch (governor of the city) set up soon after 620.  They are the restorers of the church after the fire.
Inscription underneath:
You see the donors of the glorious house on either side of the martyr Demetrios, who turned aside the barbarous wave of barbarian fleets and was the city’s salvation.


 East face of pier to the right of the sanctuary.  Demetrios with deacon.
Inscription: 
Blessed martyr of Christ, friend of the city, take care of citizens and strangers.


 Around altar and liturgical area, west face of right pier of the sanctuary.  S. Sergios. West face of left pier, a saint (Demetrios? Bacchos?) with two small human figures. 
Date of mosaic: Post 620
Century of mosaic 1: 7 AD
Century of mosaic 2: 9 AD
Silver tessera at site: Yes
Gold tessera at site: Yes
Colour tessera at site: Yes
Were other materials found at site (i.e., glass cakes)? Unknown
Has analysis been done? Yes
Samples taken from where?

?
Excavation and restoration campaigns: 1917-1949, 1998.
Bibliography of mainly technical resources:

Bakirtzis, Ch., Mastora, P. & Pitsalidis, N., 'Conservation, maintenance, and presentation of the wall mosaics in the basilica of St Demetrios, Thessaloniki: principles, methods, and results', in Proceedings of the VIIIth Conference of the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics (ICCM) ‘Wall and Floor Mosaics: Conservation, Maintenance, Presentation’ (Thessaloniki 29 Oct–3 Nov 2002) ed by Ch. Bakirtzis (Thessaloniki, 2005), 501-511. 


Kanonidis, I.O. & Mastora, P. 'Preservation of the mosaics at the Rotonda of Agios Georgios, the basilica of Agios Demetrios and the church of Agia Sofia, Thessaloniki, 1997-1999' in Proceedings of the VIIth Conference of the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics (ICCM): 'Mosaics: Conserve to display? (Arles–Saint-Romain-en-Gal, 22-28 Nov 1999), ed by P. Blanc (Arles, 2003), 403-13.


Brill, R., Chemical Analysis of Early Glasses, 2 vols, (New York: Corning Museum of Glass, 1999), IX L, 2361-2372 (dates uncertain).


Aldrovandi, A. et al, ‘Indagini scientifiche per lo studio dei materiali costitutivi e il restauro dell'icona musiva di San Demetrio’, OPD Opificio delle Pietre Dure Restauro 8 (1996), 9-29.


Cormack, R., ‘The Mosaic Decoration of S. Demetrios, Thessaloniki: A Re-examination in the Light of the Drawings of W. S. George’, The Annual of the British School at Athens, 64 (1969), 17-52

Cormack, Robin, Writing in Gold (London: George Philip, 1985), pp. 50-94
URLs:
Comments:

Gold tiles in west arches and in crypt (Antonaras paper discussed these in at AIHV conference 2009)


For details of mosaics in the north aisle that were destroyed by fire in 1917 please see Texts.

NB  The panel of S. Theodore may be 9th century.

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