Saturday, May 24, 2008

A Serbian Pilgrimage to Thessaloniki


On Friday afternoon, we took Djina into downtown Thessaloniki. There we met up with our friend Brendan, who stayed with Djina in Belgrade back in December, when he came with us there for my ordination.

We took her first to Hagia Sophia, where St. Gregory Palamas preached about the uncreated energies of God. This enormous church features beautiful mosaics in the dome dating from about 1200. I took the top photo of everyone in front of this church.

Next we walked over to the Monastery of St. Theodora. Because of its location right in the heart of the city, it is not really a traditional monastery. Rather, it serves as housing for the monks who live in the city to study theology. It features the bodies of two Thessaloniki saints, along with some lovely modern iconography. The second photo is of us in the courtyard and the third is of one of the icons.

We then headed over to Aristotle Square and then turned down to circle back to the Metropolitan Church of St. Gregory Palamas along the water. The last photo is of Aristotle Square.

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