MOSAICS OF THESSALONIKI

4TH-14TH CENTURY

The mural mosaics of Thessaloniki are masterpieces of Byzantine art, of major historical and artistic importance. Nonetheless, they have not received the attention and enhancement they deserve, so as to make them accessible both to the general public and to specialist scholars. Old photographs of them continue to be reproduced and used. In the early twentieth century, during the Balkan wars and the First World war, Thessaloniki was epicentre of military operations and political formentations. In this period there was intense international scientific interest in the city's Byzantine monuments. Since the end of hostilities and the liberation of Thessaloniki (1912), there have been few publications relating to the city's monuments, excepting their systematic protection.