Thursday, June 17, 2010
A Busy Byzantine Day
Today we visited a number of Byzantine churches in Thessaloníki, the second largest city in Greece. We began at St. George's, a former Roman mausoleum that was converted into a church. Our second visit was to Holy Sophia (Wisdom), the oldest church in the city and located near the centre. Next, we hopped over to St. Demetrius, boasting its five aisles instead of the usual three, and built over the remains of an older Roman bath complex to which we descended and prowled around like ancient tomb robbers.
A short drive through crowded streets brought us to the White Tower, a large structure located near the beach and looming over traffic. We spent a good amount of time in the fabulous museum gawking at the gold treasures from scores of Macedonian tombs in the region. We left with our jaws hanging and hoping we could be buried in such luxury.
Up the hill we drove to the ancient Byzantine acropolis and fortress of the city for a look over town before driving on for an hour to ancient Berea of the Book of Acts (Ch 17). Here we saw the so-called Altar of Paul upon which he stood the preach. Some of us walked down through tht e town to the synagogue and enjoyed some traditional architecture.
A two hour drive has found us in the imposing area of Meteora, where tomorrow we visit the monasteries built high on their outcroppings, and seeming to hang in the air.
Supper is over (it was delicious as usual), Greece made a comeback and won their World Cup match, preventing elimination, and WE WISH YOU WERE ALL WITH US!
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