Demons and Angels
Rotunda
Galerius also erected the Rotunda, in the early 4th century AD as part of his imperial complex. The cylindrical structure may have been intended as a temple dedicated either to the Kabeiroi, twin demon-gods of Samothrace, or to Zeus. Soon after, it was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the ‘Asomatoi’ or the ‘incorporeals’, meaning the Archangels. It was the city’s cathedral from 1523/24 until 1590, when it too was converted into a mosque. Shortly before its conversion, Gabriele Cavazza, in his record of the visit to Thessaloniki, wrote ‘we saw, first, the Church of the Angels, circular like the Pantheon in Rome, even though it is much smaller’.
As seen on
Thessaloniki City Tour: The Cosmopolitan City
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