New historical evidence for the church of Aghios Nikolaos Tranos (1863): approach to a subject of post-byzantine typology

No AbstractThe present article furnishes new historical data for the lost church of Aghios Nikolaos Tranos and attempts a graphic reconstruction and a description of the monument, as well as an analysis of its architectural type. Aghios Nikolaos, situated on Dikastirion Square on the east side of the Roman Agora, was built in 1863 and burnt down by the fire of 1917. The church served as the Thessaloniki cathedral from 1890 to 1914 and according to written sources was the largest and most beautiful Christian church of this period.Aghios Nikolaos, attested by photographs (some published for the first time) and excavational research, was an impressive three-aisled domed basi­ lica, 15,50 m wide and approximately 35,50 m long. The aisles were divided by two colonnades consisting of possibly six columns each. The sanctuary comprised a large seven-sided central apse, a spacious apse of the diakonikon and a smaller one of the prothesis. The church was surrounded on three sides by an arcaded portico, supported on the west façade by columns with unequal intercolumniations, while on the sides by octagonal masonry piers with equal intercolumniations. Over the portico the gynaekonitis was placed. It appears indeed that two secondary collonades, mounted on the ground floor side walls, separated the gynaekonitis from the nave. Two external staircases adjacent to the north and the south side led to the gynaekonitis. The west façade was flanked by two square belfries, which carried bell turrets topped with onion­ shaped roofs. The east and the west pediment were decorated by an interesting combination of fanlights, a slim quatrefoil in the middle Hanked by two pear-shaped.Horizontal cornices and vertical pilaster-strips were employed for the articulation of the façades, which followed classical patterns. The walls were built of local slate plates alternating with three-course bands of bricks. The masonry was covered by plaster upon which the various morphological characteristics were formed. The interior decoration was similar to this of the church of Aghios Menas in Thessaloniki