4. Church of St David

There is a church towards the Upper Town of Thessaloniki that had it been situated elsewhere, in another European country, it would have been widely advertised and it would have been a good reason for a total reconstruction and touristic development of the surrounding area and would definitely be famous worldwide.  Nevertheless, the Church of Saint David (the “Quarryman’s monastery”) is among the monuments of the World Heritage list of UNESCO. The reason is that despite its small size, its frescoes and mosaic, are unique. The frescoes, on one hand, of late 12^th century –period of the Komnenian Cultural rebirth, bear the same technique and style (they may have been painted by the same workshop of Thessaloniki) with those in the church of Saint Panteleimon in Nerezi –in the outskirts of Skopje, that are considered a milestone of Painting of the Middle Ages- which they precede by 2-3 years. It’s the first sample of painting ever where human psychology is depicted with the people faces and gestures – sign of the return to the humanism-focused ancient Greek culture. The mosaic, on the other hand, must have been constructed during or shortly after the construction of the church (used to be the church of the monastery that no longer exists) which was around the 5^th century. The uniqueness of the mosaic lies on the subject of it that can’t be encountered elsewhere and it’s about the vision of the prophet Ezekiel with the Christ-Emmanuel (young, without a beard) sitted on a spectrum. The mosaic was saved from the Iconomachy conflicts because someone covered it with a cow hide and plaster.