Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Vienna, Austria

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in located in the historic Greek neighborhood of Vienna's Innere Stadt. Greek Orthodox churches have existed near this site since 1787, as a result of the 1781 Patent of Toleration issued by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. The architect of the 1787 building was Peter Mollner.

The current building is a Byzantine Revival re-design of the Mollner building by Danish-Austrian neo-classic architect Theophil Hansen. Greek-Austrian diplomat and philanthropist Simon Sinas funded the project, one of many collaborations with Hansen in Vienna and Athens. The cathedral was inaugurated on December 21, 1858.

The exterior features two-tone brickwork and gilded archways. The elaborately ornamented sanctuary shows a stylish allusion to Baroque church architecture typical of southern Germany and Austria. A number of frescoes for the facade and vestibule were commissioned from the Austrian painter and art professor Carl Rahl, with other frescoes by Ludwig Thiersch.

Since 1963 the cathedral has been the seat of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Nikol Manetta (2 years ago)
I feel very proud, as Greek, to visit such places aboard. This church has nothing to jelous from any other in Greece! You have to visit it!

Ellider Nano (2 years ago)
Was not open in their scheduled timetable twice. We loose a lot of time trying to visit and was not possible. Unacceptable.

Ognian Dimitrov (2 years ago)
Built in Neo-Byzantine style in 1850, the church is very interesting outside.

BradJill Travels (2 years ago)
The Greek Orthodox Church (Griechenkirche), also known as the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is located in the innere Stradt on Fleischmarkt street. The church was built in 1787 by Theophil Edvard Hansen and is a rare example of a Byzantine style church found in Vienna. Here you can see an attractive red and gold striped (brick) exterior with classic arched windows. On the inside, there is an attractive narthex, featuring many columns, sloped ceiling and frescos. The church nave is heavily frescos, including some nice paintings, chandelier and an attractive iticonostasis in the front of the nave. Like many churches in the first district, the nave was in very good condition and the attendant on duty was happy for us to take pictures inside. Overall, we found the Griechenkirche a nice change of scenery from the mostly baroque and gothic style church scene in the first district. Looking very much more like church visits in Greece or Turkey, this is a pleasant surprise and interesting place to find and explore in the historic city centre.

Σοφία Σούρια (2 years ago)
Beautiful iconography art... has a special and different iconography school... once you enter the church you feel the eastern spirit...

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Dan Lundberg

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Hagios Demetrios

The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios, is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki. It is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 1988.

The first church on the spot was constructed in the early 4th century AD, replacing a Roman bath. A century later, a prefect named Leontios replaced the small oratory with a larger, three-aisled basilica. Repeatedly gutted by fires, the church eventually was reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica in 629–634. This was the surviving form of the church much as it is today. The most important shrine in the city, it was probably larger than the local cathedral. The historic location of the latter is now unknown.

The church had an unusual shrine called the ciborium, a hexagonal, roofed structure at one side of the nave. It was made of or covered with silver. The structure had doors and inside was a couch or bed. Unusually, it did not hold any physical relics of the saint. The ciborium seems to have been a symbolic tomb. It was rebuilt at least once.

The basilica is famous for six extant mosaic panels, dated to the period between the latest reconstruction and the inauguration of the Byzantine Iconoclasm in 730. These mosaics depict St. Demetrius with officials responsible for the restoration of the church (called the founders, ktetors) and with children. An inscription below one of the images glorifies heaven for saving the people of Thessalonica from a pagan Slavic raid in 615.

Thessaloniki became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1430. About 60 years later, during the reign of Bayezid II, the church was converted into a mosque, known as the Kasımiye Camii after the local Ottoman mayor, Cezeri Kasım Pasha. The symbolic tomb however was kept open for Christian veneration. Other magnificent mosaics, recorded as covering the church interior, were lost either during the four centuries when it functioned as a mosque (1493–1912) or in the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 that destroyed much of the city. It also destroyed the roof and upper walls of the church. Black-and-white photographs and good watercolour versions give an idea of the early Byzantine craftsmanship lost during the fire.

Following the Great Fire of 1917, it took decades to restore the church. Tombstones from the city"s Jewish cemetery - destroyed by the Greek and Nazi German authorities - were used as building materials in these restoration efforts in the 1940s. Archeological excavations conducted in the 1930s and 1940s revealed interesting artifacts that may be seen in a museum situated inside the church"s crypt. The excavations also uncovered the ruins of a Roman bath, where St. Demetrius was said to have been held prisoner and executed. A Roman well was also discovered. Scholars believe this is where soldiers dropped the body of St. Demetrius after his execution. After restoration, the church was reconsecrated in 1949.

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