Cemetery Basilica (Thessaloniki)

The Cemetery Basilica is an Early Christian basilica church located at Tritis Septemvriou Street in Thessaloniki, Greece. Only a portion of the building has been excavated, as the rest lies underneath the buildings of the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair. The new Museum of Byzantine Culture is also located nearby.

The church is a three-aisled basilica. Its date of construction is unknown, but a number of coins dating from the period AD 380–450 have been excavated around it, making the church a 5th-century construction. The building survived intact until the 7th century, when it was destroyed during one of the barbarian assaults on the city. The church is connected to the nearby martyrion of Alexander of Pydna, and features also a kyklion – a unusual subterranean corridor underneath the sanctuary, probably connected with the cult of the martyrs.

Sources

• Kourkoutidou-Nikolaidou, E.; Tourta, A. (1997), Wandering in Byzantine Thessaloniki, Kapon Editions, pp. 36–37, ISBN 960-7254-47-3 

Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki UNESCO Arch of Galerius and Rotunda Byzantine Bath Church of the Acheiropoietos Church of Hagios Demetrios Church of St. Catherine Hagia Sophia Church of the Holy Apostles Vlatadon Monastery Church of St. Nicholas Orphanos Church of Panagia Chalkeon Church of St. Panteleimon Church of the Saviour Church of Prophet Elijah Church of Hosios David (Latomos Monastery) City Walls Other Baptistery of St. John the Baptist Cemetery Basilica Church of St. George Heptapyrgion Museums Museum of Byzantine Culture Museum of Byzantine Instruments

Coordinates: 40°37′30″N 22°57′18″E / 40.625052°N 22.95509°E / 40.625052; 22.95509