A Note on the Byzantine Palace at Thessaloniki

Abstract

There are several buildings at Thessaloniki that can be dated to the middle or second half of the fifth century A.D. and which have one feature in common, namely, the characteristic brick stamps illustrated in Figs, 1a and b. Bricks bearing these stamps occur in the following buildings: Acheiropoietos, the first phase of St. Demetrius, the city walls, and the second phase of the Rotunda. The conventional date for the Acheiropoietos basilica is c. 470 and for the first phase of St. Demetrius some time between 450 and 500. The dates usually given to the walls and the Rotunda are c. 380/390, but I have recently shown that the walls ought to be dated to around the middle of the fifth century and that phase two of the Rotunda belongs with the fifth-century churches. I hope to demonstrate that the Byzantine palace was also built at about the same period.