{"id":332,"date":"2025-10-31T10:23:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitropolitikos.gr\/ksenagisi\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T11:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T09:12:17","slug":"ksenagisi","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mitropolitikos.gr\/en\/ksenagisi\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour of the Interior of the Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u039e\u03b5\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03b7\u03c3\u03b7 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u0399\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03cd \u039d\u03b1\u03bf\u03cd <\/strong> \"El\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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<\/div>\"Mitropolitkos<\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n
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The Metropolitan Cathedrial of Athens<\/h2>\n

The church is located in Metropoleos Square, 350 metres to the West of Syntagma Square, and is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Mother of God.<\/em><\/p>\n

On the exterior it bears features of different styles and has a dome, while in the interior it constitutes a three-aisled basilica. In terms of its history let it me noted that, originally, pursuant to a decree issued on April 3\/15, 1838, it was stipulated that a Church of the Saviour should be constructed in the square called Otto\u2019s Square at the time (today Omonoia Square) \u201cas a national monument indeed, expressing the gratitude of the Nation to the Most High<\/em>\u201d for its liberation from the Turkish yoke. However, because of the inability of the Public Fund to cover the expenditure required, and of the meagre revenue collected following a fundraiser, by virtue of a new decree of April 15 \/ May 7, 1842, it was decided that the church would be constructed not in Otto\u2019s Square but on a plot of land at 24, Panepistimiou Street, where today the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite is located, according to plans elaborated by Theophil Hansen and providing for the construction of a church with elements of Gothic, Romanesque and Renaissance architectural style. Nonetheless, that decision too was changed and by means of a decree dated November 20 \/ December 2, 1842, today\u2019s location was finally chosen. Once the buildings or ruins of buildings (churches etc.) existing there had been demolished, on December 25, 1862, its foundation took place, with the works having been completed in 1858 following interruptions which intervened for financial reasons. In 1853 the architect Demetrios Zezos radically revised Hansen\u2019s plans and designed a church in \u201ca Greek Byzantine style\u201d (from Hansen\u2019s plans only the propylon<\/em> remains). In 1855, because of the death of Zezos, Panayiotis Kalkos and Fran\u00e7ois Boulanger took up the supervision of the project successively, and gave the building the form it has to this day. In 1859 Spyridon Ghiallinas painted the icons of the iconostasis and designed its frescoes, which were executed by the Bavarian Alexander Maximilian Seitz (1862), while the painted decoration was the work of Constantinos Phanellis, and the sculpted architectural elements, the column capitals and (later on) the larnax of Saint Gregory V were due to Gheorghios Phytalis.<\/p>\n

The entire expenditure amounted to 800,000 drachmas, half of which came from the sale of church lands, another 80,000 from the Municipality of Athens, 10,000 from Gheorghios Sinas, 86,000 from his son Simon SInas, and the remaining amount from the faithful. The inauguration was held on May 21, 1862, by Mishael Apostolides, Metropolitan of Athens, and Synodic Bishops. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the subsoil and the earthquakes which happened both in the end of the 19th<\/sup> century, and in 1981 and again in 1999, the church suffered significant damage, which was successfully addressed, and, following its full restoration, it now receives its hundreds of pilgrims every day in splendour. This magnificent church is connected with all the core historical events of the Greek nation, and it is in it that the solemn ceremonies are performed, as it also constitutes the official see of each Archbishop of Athens.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div><\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n\n

\"Ieros<\/span>
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The Entrance of the Church<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The entrances to the church truly adorn it. The western entrance is accentuated by an arcade which is supported by two twin marble columns and respective twin pilasters. The column heads are of a form similar to that of the columns of the interior and are most rich in decoration. The arcade is of a tripartite arrangement with a narrow band above and a wider one below. The latter bears anthemia in relief placed at regular intervals. Above the arcade there is a large mosaic depiction of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, a work by Elli Voila (an important mosaic artist and painter, 1908-1989).   <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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The icon of Jesus Christ<\/h2>\n

Inside a sculpted shrine, a work by the sculptor Stratis Philippotis (1996) the icon of Jesus Christ is placed. It was dedicated to the church as a token of thanks given by the city of Athens to Christ for its liberation from its Occupation by the Germans (1944). The donation was made by the \u201cAll-Holy Virgin Mary the Liberatress\u201d Panhellenic Association of the Orthodox during the chairmanship of the icon painter Antonios Stanitsas in 1962, who also created the icon.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div><\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n

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The All-Holy Virgin Mary the Liberatress<\/h2>\n

Inside another shrine also sculpted in marble, also a work by the sculptor Stratis Philippotis (1996), the icon of the All-Holy Virgin Mary the Liberatress has been placed, donated by the Stanitsas brothers, Antonios and Leonidas, in 1948, and is dedicated to the memory of their mother and to the prosperity of the nation, its armed forces and \u201cunredeemed\u201d Greeks.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div><\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n

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Reliquary of Saint Philothei<\/h2>\n

In the heirloom vault of the Cathedral of Athens heirlooms and utensils of inestimable historical value and great artistry are kept. However, in the main church the holy relics of two martyrs of Orthodoxy are also treasured, i.e. those of Saint Philothei and Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople. Saint Philothei, who was a descendant of the wealthy family of the Benizelos\u2019s and the Palaiologos\u2019s, was martyred by the Turks in 1589, because of her social work, which was revolutionary by the standards of her time. Her old, austere reliquary was in the Metropolitan Church already from the first years of its operation and was recently replaced by a silver gold-plated shrine with semi-precious stones in the northern central part of the church. Indeed, when some years ago (2006) the wooden shrine was opened so that the relics be placed inside the new one, it was surprisingly discovered that apart from the holy relics there were also an icon of the 16th<\/sup> century, two wood-carved crosses \u2014one of which probably was the Saint\u2019s own cross as Abbess (Hegumeni <\/em>in Greek)\u2014 as well as a box, inside which, following her passing, when she exuded myrrh, the latter was collected and kept inside it. All this is there inside the shrine.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div><\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n

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Reliquary of Saint Gregory V<\/h3>\n

To the southern and central part of the church there is a shrine sculpted in marble, a work by the great sculptor Gheorghios Phytalis, in which the whole-body holy relic of Saint Gregory V, National Martyr and Patriarch of Constantinople, is enshrined. The Holy National Martyr Gregory V was hanged by the Ottomans on April 10, 1821, on the front gate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, in response to the uprising of the Nation, and his body was thrown into the Bosphorus. It was recovered from the sea by the Greek captain Nikolaos Sklavos and transported to Odessa of Russia, where it was buried at the Greek church of the Holy Trinity. His relic was kept in Odessa until 1871, when, on the occasion of the 50th<\/sup> Anniversary of the Greek Revolution, it was translated with honours and enshrined in the Cathedral during Metropolitan Theophilos\u2019 time.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div><\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n\n

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All-Holy Mother of God Myrtidiotisssa (\u201cof the Myrtle Tree\u201d)<\/h3>\n

\"Murtidiwtissa\"<\/a>\u201cAll-Holy Mother of God Myrtidiotissa\u201d, a copy of the icon of BVM Myrtidiotissa of Kythera, is a votive offering deposited by the Kytherians in Athens in 1860.<\/p>\n \n \t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n

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Icons of Christ and the All-Holy Virgin Mary<\/h3>\n

\"Ksenagisi<\/a>Two icons connected with historical events are placed to the right and to the left after the middle of the church and bear the traces of the shooting during the \u201cGospel riots\u201d inside the church. One of them depicts Christ and the other one the All-Holy Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n

\u201cGospel riots\u201d<\/strong> were the bloody clashes which broke out on November 8, 1901, following in the newspaper Akropolis <\/em>of a translation into modern spoken Greek of the Gospel of Matthew by the demoticist Alexandros Pallis.<\/p>\n \n \t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n

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\"Argiri<\/span>
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Silver icon of the
Annunciation of the Mother of God<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The icon of the Annunciation of the Mother of God is painted on tarpaulin and has a silver plating. There is an inscription which gives us the historical facts of its plating. \u201cCreated in the year of our Lord 1899, under Metropolitan Prokopios II of Athens, Mayor Lambros Kallifronas, paid for by the church and through the care of commissioners Alkiviadis Kambas and Constantinos Ghinakas\u201d. The silver plating was elaborated by I. Niketopoulos in the year 1899\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Silver icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God<\/h3>\n

The icon of the Dormition of the Mother is painted on tarpaulin and has a silver plating. There is an inscription which gives us the historical facts of its plating: \u201cCreated in the year of our Lord 1901, under Metropolitan Prokopios II of Athens, Mayor Spyros Merkouris, paid for by the church and through the care of commissioners Alkiviadis Kambas, Constantinos Ghinakas, Gheorghios Papaspyropoulos and Gheorghios Diamessis\u201d. The silver plating was elaborated by I. Niketopoulos in the year 1901.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div><\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n\n

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The Holy Iconostasis<\/h3>\n

The sanctuary is separated from the main body (nave) of the church by a tall, sculpted iconostasis, vested with marble, of great luxury, as the entire sculpted decoration of the church. In the centre the Beautiful Gates (Holy Doors) predominate in a protrusion. It is framed by marble small plain columns out of green marble from the island of Tinos, supporting multiple arches pulled out on the coating. Above them there is a triple superimposed pediment ending in an antefix. On each side of the Beautiful Gates there are two double arches on a tall socle, supported by small plain columns out of green marble, while four pilasters of a rectangular cross-section and out of red Capandriti marble frame the composition. Above these, an architrave is developed with inlaid round stitharia<\/em> (portraits) of saints in it. The composition of the iconostasis closes with a large architrave out of a series of little arches with the Twelve Great Feasts (Dodekaorton<\/em>), supported by small plain columns out of green marble.<\/p>\n

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At the centre, above the Beautiful Gates an elevated composition predominates with an arch supported by twin small plain columns out of red marble and an ending in an antefix framing a depiction of the Last Supper. The iconostases of the parabemata<\/em> (the prothesis <\/em>or diakonikon <\/em>and the sacristy) are of a similar form, though of a more limited composition and less tall. The arches of the doors are supported by small plain columns out of green marble, while the architrave is decorated with portraits of saints. Behind the iconostasis, which is one metre thick, there are storing spaces. The icons of the iconostasis are by the German painter\u00a0Alexander Maximilian Seitz<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Spyridon Ghiallinas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\t\t