Salonica - Church of the Holy Apostles

(Local Name: Áyii Apóstoli) At the opposite end of the old town, close to the Byzantine walls, stands the handsome church of the Holy Apostles (Áyii Apóstoli; 1312-15), on a cruciform ground-plan, with five domes and richly patterned brickwork (blind arcades reaching up into the roof). During the Turkish period it was used as a mosque, the Soguk Su Camii ("Mosque of the Cold Spring"). The main dome rises high above the barrel-vaulted arms of the cross, with four subsidiary domes over the corners of the portico - a Late Byzantine innovation - which surrounds the church on three sides.

The church contains fine wall paintings and mosaics of the Palaeologue period which were discovered during restoration work in 1940. On the north side of the church is a cistern belonging to the former monastery of the Holy Apostles.