Church of Agios Panteleimon

At the centre of the densely populated district of Agios Panteleimon is the majestic church of Agios Panteleimon, the largest in Greece and perhaps one of the largest in the Balkans.

The first church in this area was located near the present day one and it was much smaller, with three aisles that had separate saddleback roofs. The modern church was founded on September 12th 1910 by King George I, but its construction started much later, in the 1920s. The plans were made by the architect Ioannis Papadakis and aimed at a church a lit larger than the ones constructed in Athens at that time. In the period 1929-1930 the framework of the huge dome had been completed, which was made of concrete and stood out from the nearby buildings. However, in the meantime the works for the opening the line Piraeus- Kifissia of the electric railways had begun and the line would pass from this location. So, it was necessary to demolish the old church. As a matter of fact, the Greek Electric Railways offered a large amount for the construction of a new church. So, in 1930 the old church was demolished, while under the dome a temporary church was built, which was inaugurated by Archbishop Chrysostomos in the same year.

From that time, works were carried out periodically and the building took its present day form by the architect Georgios Nomikos, who completed the initial study of Papadakis. The temporary church was demolished in 1951 and the works were completed in the beginning of the 1980s, which the church started to be used regularly.
Its decoration began in 1984 by the important religious artist Giannis Karoussos, who took 23 years to cover the vast surfaces of the church’s interior. The church celebrates on July 27th.