Revisiting the church of Saint Spyridon in Selymbria

Abstract

Although nothing from the Byzantine church of St. Spyridon is preserved in situ today, the primary sources and surviving photographs of the structure indicate that it was built in the simple domed octagon design. In this article, some new architectural fragments which possibly belonged to the church are presented and evaluated, and new interpretations of the earlier restitution hypotheses are suggested. The presence of a domed octagon in Selymbria provides indirect evidence for the existence of the plan scheme in Constantinople in the Middle Byzantine period and implies a reciprocal relationship between regional and Constantinopolitan architectural styles.