Church of the Holy Apostles, Athens

Church of the Holy Apostles, Athens tickets: which one to buy

The church stands inside the Ancient Agora, the archaeological site below the Acropolis, so seeing it means buying a ticket to the site. The combined Acropolis ticket covers the agora along with five other sites and is valid for several days, which makes it the obvious purchase if you are in Athens for more than a day; otherwise the agora has its own cheap ticket.

Guided tours of the agora are worth taking because the ruins are hard to read without one, and they always end at this church, which is the only intact building on the site besides the temple on the hill. The museum in the reconstructed stoa beside it is included. Go early: the site has little shade and the ticket queues at the main entrance build from mid-morning. Tickets are sold at both gates, and the Monastiraki one usually has the shorter queue.

Visiting Church of the Holy Apostles, Athens: what to see

The church dates from about the year 1000 and is the earliest significant church of the middle Byzantine period in Athens. Its plan matters to architectural historians because it combines the simple four-pier type with the cross-in-square form and effectively begins what is called the Athenian type, copied across Attica for the next two centuries. The building is a cross with apses on all four sides, four columns carrying a dome, and a narthex to the west.

It was raised partly over a Roman fountain house of the second century. Decorative brickwork on the outer walls uses patterns derived from Kufic script, a common borrowing in Byzantine building of the period. Four distinct phases of rebuilding were identified during the restoration of 1954 to 1957, which stripped away later additions and returned the church to its original form. A few wall paintings survive inside. Pieces of carved marble from later churches demolished on the site are displayed along the outer walls.

Church of the Holy Apostles, Athens opening hours and the best time to go

The agora opens early and closes in the late afternoon, earlier in winter, and the last admission is well before closing. Athens in July and August is extremely hot and the site is exposed; come at opening or in the last two hours. Spring is the best season, when the site is green and the poppies are out among the ruins. The church is a short walk from the Monastiraki entrance, which is the quieter of the two gates and next to the metro.

Free admission days fall on certain public holidays and the first Sunday of the month in winter, which sounds attractive and means crowds. Fifteen minutes at the church, an hour and a half for the agora and its museum, and the walk up to the Acropolis from here takes another twenty minutes. The Hephaisteion on the ridge above is a five-minute walk and gives the best view back over the church.