Church of the Holy Apostle Philip at Vlassarous

Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus who preached in Greece, Syria, and Anatolia. While in Greece, he preached in the old Athenian neighborhood of Vlassarous, near the ancient agora. The area was considered sacred ground as it was the original site of an ancient Greek temple.

During the 9th century CE, a three-aisled, timber-roofed basilica was built over the original foundation of the ancient temple. This basilica stood until it was destroyed by the Ottomans in 1827 during the Greek War of Independence. A new church was built in 1833, with a major renovation in 1866. In 1912, the church was renamed “Agios Philippos Vlassarous” to honor the Apostle.

In 1961, it was determined that the old foundations of the ancient temple were unstable, so the church was dismantled, the foundations strengthened and the basilica was rebuilt, returning the building to its original shape. The iconostasis made in 1849 was saved and moved into the new church along with the Ephesian icons of the Virgin Mary from the nearby demolished church of Panagia Vlassarous.

Major renovations were completed after earthquakes in 1981 and 1999, and the church has generally remained unchanged with only minor modifications. The church currently houses a holy relic of St. Philip the Apostle, a holy relic of Saint Paraskevi, and numerous other artifacts.