St. Stephen's Church

With the exception of the monasteries of St. Athos, Kastoria is the only city in Greece that has maintained a continuous Byzantine tradition to this day. This is evidenced by 72 Orthodox churches, one of which is the Church of St. Stephen.

St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr to be tried by the Sanhedrin and stoned for preaching in Jerusalem around 33-36. He is revered all over the world – there are temples dedicated to this saint in Jerusalem, Rome, Nessebar, etc. One of the oldest temples on this list is St. Stephen’s Church in Castoria.

The exact date of its construction is unknown, but it is obvious that it was erected in the Byzantine or post-Byzantine period, most likely in the XIV century. The temple is a basilica whose architecture is archaic and clearly testifies to the antiquity of the church.

The Church of St. Stephen is interesting not only from the outside – inside it is decorated with wonderful wall frescoes and a unique episcopal throne, unique ceramic tiles and other decorative elements.

Despite the fact that there are several dozen active churches in Kastoria, it was in the church of St. Stephen that the divine liturgy was held as part of the program of the medieval Byzantine festival “Alexiada” in September 2012.