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Churches in Athens
Agios Nicholas Rangavas (Saint
Nicholas Rangavas)
The Church of Saint Nicholas Rangavas is situated north-east of
the Acropolis between Pritaneiou and Epicharmou streets in Anafiotika.
It dates to the first half of the 11th century and is one of the
city’s most important Byzantine monuments. In more recent
years it has had significant additions and alterations.
According
to written sources, the name Rangavas belongs to a family that
was well-established in Athens and Constantinople whose best known
member was Emperor Michel I Rangabe (811-13). There are no existing
documents regarding the foundation of the church. However, it
played such an important role in medieval Athens that a whole
surrounding area was named after it as was a nearby gate on the
defensive walls, the Rangavas Gate.
Initially
it was private but eventually it became, and still is, a parish
church. Experts date the building to the 11th century (1040-50)
because of stylistic characteristics similar to those of numerous
other churches from that period (Sotira tou Lykodemos ca. 1031,
Kapnikarea ca. 1050 and Agia Ekaterini, before 1050). The church
has been in its present form since the conservation work of 1979-80
that uncovered several original elements such as the dome, the
roofs and the northern side.
On
the north-eastern side one can see the characteristic mid-Byzantine
arrangements of the façades and the spaces. The large vertical
tiles have been arranged in a parallel on the lower part of the
wall without yet forming a cross. The masonry follows the cloisonné
style i.e. sculpted four-sided stone have been used, surrounded
by bricks.
There
are a few decorative kufic brick patterns (decorative elements
that imitate the old Arabic writing in which the Koran was first
written in the city of Kufa, in present-day Iraq) and there also
are numerous ancient pieces of architecture in use which was quite
a frequent practice in this period. A particular decorative element
is the double row of dentils around the whole exterior of the
church. The dome is also typical of the period. It is small, has
eight sides and is of the Athenian type.
Saint
Nicholas Rangavas is a four-columned, domed, cross-in-square type
of church, similar to that of Saint Assomati in Thissio and the Church of the Metamorphosis on the northern side of the Acropolis.
In more recent years the chapel of Saint Paraskevi was added on
the northern side. Later on, the church, around which the area
of Anafiotika had begun to develop, was extended to the west with
the addition of the narthex and the bell tower while apses on
the eastern side took the form of a unified buttress.
Between Pritaneiou and Epicharmou streets - Anafiotika
Ambelokipi
For
typical words, please consult our Greek
glossary.