Aghios Konstantinos Church

Aghiou Konstantinou St, 1871-1896/1905

Architect
Lysandros Kaftantzoglou (1811-1885)



The church of Aghios Konstantinos (St Constantine) is a manifesto work by the great Greek architect Lysandros Kaftantzoglou. It expresses his views about Europeanising Orthodox church construction in Athens, despite the fact that these views did not influence its evolution.
The church was built on the initiative of the Municipality of Athens in order to pay homage to the birth of the Crown Prince Constantine. It was an innovative solution, fertilely influenced by early Christian, Italian and French models. When building Aghios Konstantinos, Kaftantzoglou selected a special type of three-aisled basilica with transept and dome, which rests on pendentives in accordance with the Byzantine church construction. The architect introduced innovations mainly in terms of the typology and style. Rejecting the usual neo-Byzantine order of Orthodox churches, he concluded with scholarly eclecticism of a strongly classicising nature.
The most impressive feature of Aghios Konstantinos is its façade, shaped with features derived from neoclassical and Renaissance orders. It has a three-part layout and monumental entrance in the form of a porch with piers, Corinthian semi-columns and a pediment.

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