ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΙΚΗ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΑ

 In Museums and Collections of the world there are carved talismans of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki, which contain “lethron” (blood mixed with soil since the day of his martyrdom). One of these is kept in the Byzantine Collection of Dumbarton Oaks in America. It is a gold round enkolpion (12th or 13th century) with the figure of the martyr made with the cloisonné technique. Inside, by opening two small doors, the body of the Demetrius can be seen carved with folded arms in a niche, just as it was inside the octagonal Martyrion in his church in Thessaloniki. Around it we read in the inscription that the vessel contains the blood and myrrh of Demetrius and that its owner was called Sergius. Surviving enkolpia usually replicate the martyr's tomb or Martyrion. This shows how impressed the pilgrims were by the authentic place of Demetrius’ martyrdom, which they wanted to take with them when they left. +E. G . ------------------------------------------------------------------ ...

  The deacon Philip, an important member of the first Church of Jerusalem, according to tradition, preached Christ, ended his life (October 11) and was buried in Tralleis in Asia Minor. Tralleis was an important city near the river Meander (hence the well-known decorative shape of the meander, like the bends of the river) at a distance of about 50 kilometers from the seaside city of Ephesus. They had a significant Jewish diaspora, which Philip would obviously reach out to. From the beginning of the 2nd century, the memory of the bishop of the city, Polybius, has been preserved, who visited the captive Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, in Smyrna, as he himself mentions in his letter to the Trallians (107). Until the 13th century there was a Christian diocese. Then the city was abandoned. Today it is called Aydin. Even today, the Ecumenical Patriarchate honorably gives its archpriests the title of Bishop of Tralleis. From the time of Polybius, the oldest complete musical work that has s...

The Church of the military saints Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople was built by Justinian and Theodora in the 6th century. Theodora was a close friend of the Monophysite Patriarch Severus of Antioch, who wrote a great oration in Syriac about the saints. For the sake of Severus, she seems to have built the church in Constantinople next to her Palace, the palace of Hormisdas, where she hosted over 500 Monophysite monks when they were expelled from Syria. The church is square on the outside but octagonal on the inside and supports its beautiful dome on rows of marble columns with alternating monograms of the later Emperors Justinian and Theodora. A marble-carved building inscription surrounds the entire dome. The saints celebrate on October 7, perhaps the sacrification day of their church. For many centuries the Legatus-Apocrisarius of the Pope of Rome lived and celebrated the mass in the church. +E. G . -------------------------------------------- Ο Ναός των στρατιωτικών αγίων...