Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens

We had a very easy day today and we are enjoying this time to relax after our very vigorous holiday. First up today was a visit to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. Construction began in 1842 using marble from 72 demolished churches and it was finally completed twenty years later, measuring 40m long, 20m wide and 24m high. Inside are the tombs of two saints killed by the Ottoman Turks during the Ottoman period.

We were in fact quite lucky to be able to see the inside and outside of this church as it had been covered in scaffolding for almost 20 years for renovations. Badly damaged from two earthquakes and the passage of time, scaffolding was erected in 1999 so as to hold up some of the sections of the building. It was eventually closed in 2009 with the intent of it being closed for one year only while restoration took place. That one year stretched to many and it wasn’t until 2016 it was finally revealed, scaffold free and fully restored.

Its very elaborate interior, with every surface opulently decorated, is at odds to the stark and simplistic lines of the exterior. There is just so much to look at and admire.Read more