How many domes crown the Church of the Holy Apostles in Thessaloniki’s reconstructed design?

The story behind the answer

The reconstructed Church of the Holy Apostles in Thessaloniki has five domes.

The late Byzantine church was built around the beginning of the fourteenth century, commonly dated to approximately 1310–1314. Its design is a cross-in-square arrangement with a large central dome and four smaller domes over the corner bays, producing a total of five.

The church is known for its surviving mosaics and frescoes, although much of the decoration has been damaged or lost. It was probably associated with a monastery, and its dedication to the Twelve Apostles reflects a common Byzantine practice of linking churches to important biblical figures or saints.

The five-dome arrangement is not unique to one building, so it should not be confused with a claim that every Byzantine cross-in-square church had five domes. In this church, the count refers to the central dome plus four corner domes in the surviving architectural scheme.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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