Orthodox Church of the Assumption

Places

Orthodox Church of the Assumption

The church of the Assumption of the Virgin is located in the historic district of Panagia, within the walls of the peninsula, where half the residents and families who lived during the Turkish period were Greek Orthodox Christians. All the Greeks who lived in this small district during the years of slavery had such a deep sense of the Christian faith that there had been a monastery on the spot where the church now stands, in which St Philotheos of Kavala was a monk, residing close to his mother.

The only place of worship that the Christians had in Kavala until 1864 was the church of the Dormition of the Virgin at the end of the peninsula. The technique of the current building has nothing to do with the older one. The previous one was demolished shortly before 1960 and then the current one was built. The height of the demolished temple was in accordance with the Ottoman rule, which forbade Christian temples to be taller or equal in height to Muslim mosques. The church had a chapel of Agios Nikolaos. It took 33 to 34 years for the Dormition chapel to be renamed Agios Fanourios in 1956.

The oldest building was post-Byzantine from the last period of Ottoman rule. The design of the church is a three-aisled basilica without a dome with a wooden roof and covered by slate slabs. To the east, the part of the roof was slightly elevated to cover the floor of the gyneconite which was illuminated by a small skylight. The temple was lower than the ground and was about 20 meters high and 12 to 13 meters wide.

History & Culture

The old church building, probably from the 18th century, was a typical case of a church of the last period of Ottoman rule: a three-aisled basilica without a dome, with a wooden roof covered by slate, double (L-shaped). The temple was lower than the ground. It was about 20 meters long and 12-13 meters wide. To the southeast of the church was the chapel of Agios Nikolaos.

It is possible that another Christian church of the 15th century pre-existed in its place. This church was demolished in 1957-1958, and its place (apart from the belfry which is preserved to this day) was taken by the current church of the Dormition of the Virgin, of a completely different technique and style.