There is a holy place in Athens - the Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, which is popularly called the "Russian Temple. The traditional name of this 11th-century Byzantine church is. "Sotira Likodimu." It had a difficult road before it became the center of the Russian community of Athens, rising from the ashes more than once. Today the church is open to the public, both to its parishioners and to the many curious travelers, eager to see with their own eyes the grandeur of the ages imprinted in every fresco, ornament and stone of this unique structure.
Today, the Russian Church of the Holy Trinity in Athens is visited every weekend by more than 200 parishioners from among immigrants, native Greeks, and Greek returnees who have returned to their historic homeland. And in Byzantine times, it was the site of Roman baths and a water supply system. Even now in the crypt you can see the "porticoes" - about 260 columns and a chamber where water was heated to supply the entire region. It is said that these are by no means all of the columns - some were destroyed in a terrible earthquake in 1705.
Founded in the 11th century, the temple is one of the oldest in Athens. At that time a convent for women in the name of the Mother of God was erected on this site. The construction was financed by the local mayor Stephanos Lykodimos, after which the church was popularly called "Sotira Lykodimou". During the Ottoman rule the church became the catholicon of the monastery.
For almost 70 years, the oldest church in Athens has stood in a dilapidated state. The military actions of the time forced the citizens to use parts of the building for the construction of the defense walls in 1780. The church owes its rebirth to Nicholas I, the Russian monarch, and its decoration to Ludwig Tirsch, a master painter from Bavaria. The Russian emperor ordered that the original plan of the building be preserved as much as possible and that the Byzantine frescoes be uncovered. The Orthodox church in Athens had a rich library with many ancient books.
The pride of the church - the main bell - was given to the parishioners by Alexander II. It is a little younger than the building of the temple, but this does not detract from its historical value and beauty. The carved facade of the temple and the pseudo-kufic ornaments are a great delight. By the way, the ornaments, reminiscent of Arabic script, are a characteristic handwriting of Greek architecture of those times.
The Byzantine Basilica of the Holy Trinity is not only one of the oldest churches in Athens, it also has the title of the "largest" building of the Middle Ages. The images of Christ the Savior, the Apostle John the Theologian and St. Stephen preserved on the walls of the temple are particularly awe-inspiring for contemporaries.
On the territory of the church there are burials of Kievan citizens who were sold into slavery by the Tatars, as well as of the last ambassador of the Russian Empire in Greece and his wife.
The Russian temple of the Holy Trinity is rightly considered to be one of the most outstanding architectural monuments of the Byzantine period in Athens.
Since the church was purchased by the Russian state, excavations have been carried out in the basement of the temple, and the remains of Roman baths have been discovered. The excavations were supervised by the famous Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin, who was no stranger to ancient and Byzantine architecture and theology and later became the head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem. He also supervised the reconstruction of the exterior and interior of the church.
The walls of the Orthodox Russian Church in the Greek capital are now decorated with frescoes with biblical subjects, the work of the German artist Ludwig Thierch. In Athens, he taught at the School of Art and even became the founder of the so-called "Nazarethian" style. The master's work was influenced by Western painting, which completely overrode the Byzantine style of the interior decoration of the Church of the Holy Trinity.
The condition of the building is constantly monitored. In 1954 it was decided to restore the original height of the dome and to renovate the bell tower, which itself is of historical and architectural interest. The structure was built of white marble, yellow stone and red brick, and the weight of the largest bell is almost 4,500 kg! Over time, a mechanical device was placed on the bells, which powered them. Specialists for a long time could not set their sound to a minimum, as the power of ringing in the area flew out the glass in the houses.
Russian Orthodox Church in Athens is an island of homeland for many compatriots who decided to visit the legendary capital of Greece. This building has changed several guises, names and eras before appearing to us in its present guise.
The address of one of the most precious Byzantine monuments with Russian roots is the intersection of Filellinon Street and Ave. Amalias. You can visit it on occasion, touch the ancient images on the walls and feel the greatness of the centuries, captured in stone.
In order to enjoy not only the external beauty and antiquity of the Russian Church of the Holy Trinity, but also the interior decoration, it is worth visiting the Sunday service. You do not have to pay for admission, as it is an ordinary Orthodox church, not counting the architectural value of the building.
You can reach the Church of the Holy Trinity by metro, Syntagma station. The temple is close to the parliament building and the main city square. The exact address is Filellinon, 21/A.
Take buses nos. 040, 790, 165, 227, and 209. You can also get there by trolleybuses 15, 1, 12, 2, 5 and 4 (stop Filellinon) and by red or green streetcar (stop Zappeio).
