Athens sunken churches

athens landscape hosts a human civilisation that dates back six millenia! today, it is a palimpsest of ruins that HAVE come from different eras. However it is not just the human constructions that have underwent the decay of time, but also the soil on which they were built and has been stepped on since the third millenium b.c.

Ancient ATHENS USED TO HAVE QUITE A FEW RIVERS THAT ate their banks.

in modern years MOST OF THE rivers WERE DESTROYED, COVERED, OR BECAME AUTOROUTES, BECAUSE THEY WERE CONSIDERED AS CAUSES OF INFECTIONS. people would use the rivers for their everyday works anD no bioogical cleansing was yet discovered! tHE RESULTS OF THEIR INTERACTION WITH THE SOIL HOWEVER, REMAINED AND TODAY OLDER BUILDINGS RESIDE ON NEWER SOILS!

THIS EXACTLY HAPPENED WITH OUR BELOVED BYZANTINE CHURCHES. bUILT IN THE 8TH, 10TH 11NTH or 16nthCENTURY THEY ARE NOW OVERTAKEN BY THE MODERN LANDSCAPE.

the most striking examples of SUCH sunken churchES CAN BE SEEN IN athens in some of the MOST POPULATED city's neighborhoods. In the center of ATHENS AT MONASTIRAKI THE CHURCH OF VIRGIN MARY PANADANASSA RESIDES BELLOW THE CITY'S LEVEL. nO WONDER! ERIDANUS RIVER USED TO PASS ON THE BORDERS OF ITS WALLS. tHE LITTLE CHURCH THAT DATE BACKS TO THE 10NTH CENTURY USED TO BE THE MAIN CHURCH OF A MONASTERY OF NUNS AND TODAY IT STANDS ALONE, WITHOUT ITS MONASTERY. a SMALL STAIRCASE TAKES YOU DOWN TO ITS INTERIOR WHERE YOU CAN ADMIRE A BIG COLLECTION OF VIGIL LAMPS. eridanus river has been covered by the modern city. A SMALL PART OF IT CAN BE SEEN IN THE MONASTIRAKI METRO STATION, part of it i has been domed in the ROMAN TIMES BY the EMPEROR hadrian.

The second sunken church of athens is also its trademark! CONSACRATED TOO ON vIRGIN maria, kapnikarea church lies beneath the level of the most commercial street of ATHENS, THAT IS ERMOU STR.

eridanus river passed from that spot too. but it was not only the river.

when byzantine athens was raided by tribes and latter desrtoyed during the greek -ottoman war for the greek independence, the ruins from the distructions of the battles remained on the soil and were not removed. WHEN THE MODERN STREET WAS BUILT, THEY PASSED IT OVER THE RUINS OF THE WAR.

ACTUALLY, IN THE YEARS OF THE BAVARIAN RULE OF ATHENS, OFFICERS OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTATION OF ATHENS PLANNED TO DEMOLISH IT SEVERAL TIMES IT WAS CONSIDERD AS NOT PRACTICAL THE FACT THAT A SMALL OLD CHURCH STOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET THAT WENT TO kinG'S otto palace..

however the church was saved. the church that exists today dates back to the 11nth century and i has the first monumental work of greek modernist painter fotis kondoglou above its altAR.

as we enter athens from the west, right where the intercity's bus station exist, THE KTELBUS, WE FIND AN, ALMOST UNKNOWN CHURCH, SUNKEN TOO, BENEATH THE ROAD. THE NAME OF THE CHURCH DECLARES THE SITUATION IT IS CALLED THE BURRIED SAINT NICOLAS!

IT IS NOT JUST A PLAIN STREET THAT PASSES ABOVE THAT CHURCH BUT IT IS THE AUTOROUTE THAT LINKS THE MOST IMPORTANT CITIES OF GREECE, ATHENS AND THESSALONIKI.

THE CHURCH WAS BUILT IN THE 16NTH CENTURY ON THE BANK OF THE TORRENTIAL RIVER KIFISSOS, BUT IN THE 1950'S KIFFISOS WAS COVERED AND TRANSFORMED TO OUR NATIONAL ROAD. TODAY THE CHURCH IS COMPLETELY ALIENATED FROM ITS ENVIRONMENT, BUT THE ATHENIANS BELEIVE THAT IT IS MIRACULOUS. https://www.dark-attica-tours.com/book-online