Day 3 Revisit part 1 - Basilica of St. Demetrius

Basilica of St. Demetrius

Day Three Revisit - Tuesday June 8th - this is the first day of sight-seeing. As with most days, we did a lot, so most days will have several parts to them.


Today we saw the landmarks of Thessaloniki in the morning, then went to Vergina and Beria. We started out with buffet breakfast at the hotel and then on the bus by 8:30.

First stop was the Basilica of Saint Demetrius. Pastor Wayne remarked about how this location was close to Jason's house (Acts 17:5-9). Paul was staying at Jason's house, which implies that Jason was a convert, and his act of putting up a pledge (17:9) means that he took a big financial hit to protect Paul and his people. Pastor Wayne made the observation that Jason is a transitional person, that he draws together the Hebrew and Greek thought.

• Hebrew thought: Rule of God's Law plus principle of Voluntary Surrender
• Greek thought: Rule of Human Law plus principle of Mistrust of the 'Too Popular'

This Greek principal of mistrust of those 'too popular' is probably the main reason why the riot in Thessaloniki occured. May we be more like Jason, other-centered, humble, and God-focused.


For the actual church, it is larger and grander than most Basilicas. Most Basilicas have three aisles, each separated by columns of pillars. The church of St. Demetrius has five aisles plus a final sixth aisle that runs at 90 degrees to the other aisles, which when seen from above forms a cross.

Wall detail: Old and New

Built in ~450 AD, it is still in active use today. The Basilica was built over the "crypt" of St. Demetrius, which is on the site where the first century Christians met. There was a major fire in the city of Thessaloniki in 1917 which destroyed the majority of the city. This fire did extensive damage to St. Demetrius, completely demolishing the roof. There was some restoration over the years, and then a major restoration in the 1960's. When you look at the outside of the building, you can see the original walls, which look like they have very random material, as opposed to the reconstructed walls which have square bricks and square blocks of cement.

Demetrius being matyred

The church of St. Demetrius was named in honor of Demetrius, who was martyred in 303 AD. He was a military man, and was executed with spears. Legend has it that Leo the Governor of the area was cured of a disease by Demetrius and after he was martyred, Leo paid for the construction of the Basilica. Demetrius's tomb was originally below the church in the 'basement' but was moved and is now inside the church.


We got to spend about an hour at the site and listen to Aliki our tour guide describe the various pieces, functions, and backgrounds.

Thessaloniki Agora/Forum

After Saint Demetrius, we walked down a small hill and across a street and spent just a few minutes looking over an agora, which would have been the old central marketplace of Thessoloniki. It is almost a certainty that Paul preached in this Agora. Although what we were looking was actually Roman age material, built on top of the Greek Agora, so the name would be more properly said as Forum instead of Agora. After a few pictures, we headed back to the bus and off to our next stop, the White Tower - see the next post.


Prev: Day 1 and 2 <=> Next: Day 3 Part 2
Dale's Pics for Day 3: here