Mosaics of Thessaloniki (English language edition)

358 colour illustrations and 38 b&w drawings. Distributed by University of Exeter Press. This volume fills a major gap in the bibliography on the subject, since there are no modern publications of the mosaics of the major Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki aimed at the contemporary reader, both specialist and layman. The preserved mosaic decoration of the Rotonda, Hosios David, Ayia Sophia, Ayioi Apostoloi and the basilicas of Ayios Dimitrios and the Acheiropoietos is presented with lavish, high-quality illustrations and an elegant text that highlights the aesthetic values of the monuments. The mural mosaics of Thessaloniki are masterpieces of Byzantine art, of major historical and artistic importance. Nonetheless, they have not received the attention and enhancement that they deserve to make them accessible to the general public and to scholars. In the early twentieth century, during the Balkan wars and the First World War, Thessaloniki was the epicentre of military operations and political fomentations. In this period there was intense scientific interest in the city's Byzantine monuments, but there have been few publications relating to the city's monuments. The authors of this important book served for over 40 years as Ephors of Byzantine Antiquities of Thessaloniki. After the 1978 earthquakes, they directed works on the consolidation and conservation of the mosaics, alongside their colleagues, archaeologists, architects and conservators from the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Thessaloniki. The research conducted resulted in new data on the mosaics, much of which is recorded in this volume, illustrated with high quality photographs and drawings.