Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Athens, Greece
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, dedicated to the Annunciation, is a three-aisled domed basilica 40 m long, 20 m wide and 24 m high. Its light brown brick facade has three arched doorways below a gold-ground mosaic of haloed figures, a large arched window with a grid of small openings above, and two square towers with clock faces, belfry openings and crosses. The lower section, designed by Theophil Hansen, looks smaller than the rest of the building.
The foundation stone was laid on Christmas Day in 1842 during the reign of King Otto and Queen Amalia. The Danish architect Theophil Hansen drew up the initial plan, but the finished church was not consecrated until two decades later.
The name reflects the role of this church as the seat of the Archbishop of Athens, who leads major ceremonies here. On Sundays parishioners gather for services, while on holidays such as Easter many worshippers follow the ceremony from outside through open doors.
You will find the church on Mitropoleos Street between Syntagma and Monastiraki squares in central Athens. Visitors may enter the complex daily without admission fees, though Sunday morning services take place and the aisles may be filled with worshippers.
The marble in the walls came from 72 demolished churches, but the building also carries a stylistic mismatch: the lower section, designed by Theophil Hansen, looks smaller than the rest because later architects changed the plan. Inside, the relics of Saint Philothei and Patriarch Gregory V lie in marble and gilded reliquaries.
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