Holy Cathedral Church of Hagia Sophia
Byzantine domed basilica with a glittering Ascension mosaic of apostles among stylised trees.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Church of Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki stays under its dome, where a line from the Book of Acts circles the Ascension mosaic and a ring of apostles stands among stylised trees. It moves through the Ottoman mosque years, a city fire, and an earthquake in the late twentieth century. Stand in the centre of the nave, beneath the chandelier, and look straight up.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Rotonda
Massive Roman brick rotunda turned church and mosque, its vaults glittering with gold-glass mosaics.
Holy Church of Saint Catherine
Late Byzantine brick church with fourteenth-century frescoes, once an Ottoman mosque.
Latomos Monastery - Holy Church of Hosios David
Fifth-century Byzantine chapel with a rare apse mosaic of a youthful Christ seated on a rainbow.
Church of the Acheiropoietos
Fifth-century basilica with original arch mosaics of birds, fish and vessels, later a city mosque.
Holy Church of the Trasfiguration of the Saviour
Tiny fourteenth-century Byzantine chapel sunk below street level, its tall dome ringed with frescoes.
Holy Church of the Holy Apostles
Five-domed Byzantine church with lavish patterned brickwork and late mosaics of shimmering saints.