Ι.Ν. Αγίου Γεωργίου Νεαπόλεως
Church of St George of Neapolis
In Neapolis, the mass settlement of the populations that came from the compulsory exchange between Greece and Turkey after the Asia Minor catastrophe, began towards the end of 1924, in an area that had previously been the property of Saul Modiano. The latter sold plots of land to wealthy refugees and internal immigrants from Old Greece (i.e. the southern part of Greece) until the expropriation of the area, which was completed in 1928. Neapolis beacame a melting pot for the refugee masses, as it has been recorded that populations from at least 40 different villages settled there, the highest proportion of whom were refugees from Cappadocia.
Ι.Ν. Αγίου Γεωργίου Νεαπόλεως
Church of St George of Neapolis
The Church of St. George of Neapoli is the Metropolitan Church of the Holy Metropolis of Neapolis and Stavropolis and one of the oldest churches of the above mentioned metropolis, built by the refugees from Cappadocia and especially from the city of Nev-Sehir (Neapolis of Cappadocia). There was a custom to give the new settlement area the name of the refugees place of origin. So Neapolis, thanks to the initiative of the first administrators, took its name from the Cappadocians particular homeland. According to another view, the name of the area was given to it in honour of the creation of a new homeland, a new city, namely Neapolis (nea polis = new city). In 1928, the Refugee Association ‘Enosis’, pointed out to the Metropolis of Thessaloniki, that there weren’t any other churches in the area except for the small Agios Georgios Church (St George). Because of that it was common for baptisms to be performed in houses. ‘Enosis’ asked for help in creating a ‘real church’ (document 129/28.2.1928). From a relevant city guide of 1932, we are informed that the Holy Church of St. George operated under the priestly headship of “His Eminence Bishop Gabriel Konstantinidis and the priest Apostolos Dimitriadis”. Thus we can safely conclude that in 1928 there was a small church that served the needs of the faithful of the Neapolis area. This church had priceless treasures, relics and sacred icons that refugees had brought with them from their homelands. It was an ark-shaped building with a wooden roof on which they placed metal sheet and tiles. It had a fairly large entrance, two large windows in the front and at least six others, three on each side, an elaborate wooden cross on the roof and two chandeliers. It was located where the “Caesarea” hall of the Church exists today. In 1931, with the 469/15.09.1931 Act of the Municipal Council of Thessaloniki, the creation of a parish of St. George of Neapolis was approved and on June 13, 1937, Sunday at 12 a.m., the official foundation of the church was laid, in the presence of both the people and the clergy, presided over by Metropolitan Gennadios. In 1948 it was decided that the old building of the church to be demolished and finally in 1953 the official inauguration of the new church took place, presided over by Panteleimon I.
Ι.Ν. Αγίου Γεωργίου Νεαπόλεως
Ο σημερινός ναός είναι βυζαντινού ρυθμού, στον τύπο του σταυροειδούς μετά τρούλου και έχει ενσωματωμένο στην πρόσοψη του το καμπαναριό, ενώ υπάρχει και εσωτερικό παρεκκλήσιο αφιερωμένο στον Άγιο Ιάκωβο τον αδελφόθεο και τον Άγιο Γεώργιο τον Νεαπολίτη. Μεταξύ των θησαυρών ο ναός κατέχει:
1.φορητή εικόνα του Αγίου Συμεών του Στυλίτη του έτους 1862
2.φορητή εικόνα της Δεήσεως του έτους 1853
3.πολύ παλαιές φορητές εικόνες της Παναγίας και των Αγίων Αντωνίου, Γεωργίου και Στεφάνου
4.αρτοφόριο από την εκκλησία του Αγίου Γεωργίου της Νεβσεχίρ και 42 εικόνες διαφόρων αγίων και διαστάσεων.
Ο ναός αγιογραφήθηκε το 1978 ενώ μια δεκαετία αργότερα επεκτάθηκε ο νάρθηκας και επενδύθηκε εξωτερικά. Σημαντική παρέμβαση στην αρχιτεκτονική του κτιρίου σημειώθηκε το 1993 καθώς βελτιώθηκε αισθητικά με τη δημιουργία περιδρόμων και περιστυλίων. Το 1974 ο Ιερός Ναός με την ενθρόνιση του πρώτου Μητροπολίτη Νεαπόλεως Σταυρουπόλεως Διονυσίου ανυψώνεται και ονομάζεται πλέον Μητροπολιτικός.
[ΠΗΓΗ: Κ. Νίγδελη (2016), Δήμος Νεάπολης-Συκεών «Ο μεγάλος Καλλικρατικός Δήμος»]
Church of St George of Neapolis
The current church is of Byzantine style, cross-domed and its bell tower is built into its façade, There is also an internal chapel dedicated to Saint James the Brother of Jesus and Saint George the Neapolitan. Among the treasures the church holds are:
1. a portable icon of St. Symeon the Stylites, of the year 1862
2 .a portable icon of Supplication, of the year 1853
3. very old portable icons of the Virgin Mary and of Saints Anthony, George and Stephen,
4 a Tabernacle from the church of St. George of Nevsehir and forty-two icons of various saints and dimensions.
The interior walls of the church were covered with hagiography in 1978. A decade later the narthex was extended and the exterior walls were cladded. A major intervention in the architecture of the building took place in 1993 as it was aesthetically improved with the creation of pristoons and colonnades. In 1974, with the enthronement of the first Metropolitan of Neapolis Stavropolis Dionysios, the church of St. George became a Metropolitan one.
[SOURCE: K. Nigdeli (2016), Municipality of Neapoli-Sykies “The great Kallikratian Municipality“]