3719 x 2450 px | 31,5 x 20,7 cm | 12,4 x 8,2 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
24 giugno 2010
Altre informazioni:
The Rotunda of Galerius is 125m northeast of the Arch of Galerius at 40°37'59.77"N, 22°57'9.77"E. Also known as the Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Georgios, better known as the Church of the Rotunda (or simply The Rotunda). The cylindrical structure was built in 306 on the orders of the tetrarch Galerius, who was thought to have intended it to be his mausoleum. It was more likely intended as a temple; it is not known to what god it would have been dedicated. The Rotunda has a diameter of 24.5 m. Its walls are more than 6 m thick, which is one reason why it has withstood Thessaloniki's earthquakes. The walls are interrupted by eight rectangular bays, with the south bay forming the entrance. A flat brick dome, 30 m high at the peak, crowns the cylindrical structure. In its original design, the dome of the Rotunda had an oculus like the Pantheon in Rome. Mosaics in one of the bays of the interior. After Galerius's death in 311, he was buried at Gamzigrad (Felix Romuliana) near Zajecar, Serbia; however, the structure stood empty until the Emperor Constantine I ordered it converted into a Christian church in the 4th century. The church was embellished with very high artistic quality mosaics. Only fragments survived of the original decoration, for example a band depicting saints with hands raised in prayer, in front of complex architectural phantasies. The building functioned as a church for over 1, 200 years until the city fell to the Ottomans. In 1590 it was then converted into a mosque, the Mosque of Suleyman Hortaji Effendi, and a minaret was added to the structure. It remained a mosque until 1912, when the Greeks captured the city during the Balkan War. It was then formally re-consecrated into a church, but the minaret was not demolished. The structure was damaged during an earthquake in 1978 but was subsequently restored. As of 2004[update], the minaret was still being stabilized with scaffolding. The building is now a historical monument.
