Church of Agios Loukas

The church of Agios Loukas (St Luke) is situated at a great distance from the centre of Athens, at the area of Patissia, at the street with the same name, and is worth visiting not only for its architectural merit but also because it is related to the oldest Christian history of the city. Here was the oldest of early Christian basilicas of Athens, which dated from the 1st century and according to tradition it had an icon of Virgin Mary that was painted by Apostle Luke.

In the Middle Byzantine period (9th – 12th century) at the area there was a monastery with an olive oil press and a catholicon built on the ruins of the old basilica. It seems that the church was destroyed and was left in ruins during the Greek Revolution in 1821, while it is known that there were remains of murals in its interior. In 1859-1860 it was demolished so they could erect the contemporary church, which was founded in 1864 at building block owned by Theoklitos Vimbos, Professor at the School of Theology at the University of Athens, and later Archbishop of Mantineia and Kynouria, who is considered a great benefactor of the church. Its inauguration took place on October 18th 1870, the feast day of Apostle Luke.

The church is a Byzantine, cross-in-square church with a dome. Its design is the work if the famous German architect Ernst Ziller, as a matter of fact it was one of his first works in Athens. In 1928 expansion works started, which were completed in 1934 with the construction of an additional façade and the steeples, with the plans of the architect Georgios Nomikos, who supervised the whole renovation. From the decoration the church we can distinguish the marble sculpted lintels and the screen, designed by Ziller, the columns supporting the dome, and the wood-carved works o Stefanos Nomikos.

It is noteworthy that the icons in the whole church are painted on a sheet of gold. The painting of the religious icons, which was completed in 1963, had been carried out in different stages by well-known artists, among them the writer and painter Photis Kontoglou.