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Church of Aghia Sophia
This church, dedicated to Christ, the true Word and Wisdom of God, was built in the late 7th – early 8th century at the location of a large 5th century Early Christian Basilica. It is a typical example of a domed transitional cruciform church with ambulatory, in imitation of the Aghia Sophia in Istanbul. The mosaic decoration in its interior, a work of three stages, testifies to the high intellectual and artistic level of the city throughout the centuries. The decoration of the sanctuary is one of the most important precisely dated paintings of the Iconomachy period (780-788). The Ascension depicted on the dome is a superb example of the so-called Renaissance of the Macedonian Emperors in the late 9th century, while the Virgin Enthroned with Christ in the apse, a work of the 11th – 12th century, covered the great cross of the Iconomachy period.
