Latomou Monastery

The Church of Hosios David (Greek: Όσιος Δαβίδ) also referred to as the Latomou Monastery and Suluca Mosque, is a late 5th-century church in Thessaloniki, Greece. In Byzantine times, it functioned as the katholikon of the Latomos Monastery (Greek: Μονή Λατόμου Λατόμων), and received a rich mosaic and fresco decoration, which was renewed in the 12th–14th centuries. The surviving examples are of high artistic quality. Under Ottoman rule, the building was converted into a mosque (probably in the 16th century), until it was reconsecrated as a Greek Orthodox church in 1921, receiving its present name. In 1988, included among the Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

Architecture

The original architecture of the Church of Hosios David was constructed in a cross pattern with squares as the main shape of the floor plan. This pattern would later become more popular. The structure contained square bays in the corners. The bays all connected to the main cross room via hallways. The bays also connected to the outside.

Sometime during the middle Byzantine period the structure was damaged by earthquakes. Parts of the structure collapsed including the tribelon. The middle Byzantine period also saw the addition of marbling and a second round of fresco paintings.

Source: wikipedia.org