The spolia in the Middle Byzantine cityscape of Athens

Abstract

A group of small churches built during the Middle Byzantine age (12^th – 13^th century) in the city of Athens show several spolia, i.e. reused bases, columns, capitals and frames. These, generally in marble, come from monuments of the ancient city and are placed inside the churches to embellish the most sacred parts of them. In the following paper the spolia will be analysed with particular attention to the new context focusing on the history of the building in which they are located, the chronology of their reuse, trying to understand the reasons for this practice.