International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Kyriakos Fragoulis 
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; 
[e-mail]
Episcopal Basilica of Dion, Greece. 
The Triconch Building and the Location of the Bishop’s Residence
Dion, one of the most historic places of Macedonia, was the main urban center in the region 
of Pieria during Late Antiquity. The Episcopal Basilica is among the most important monuments of 
the city and occupies a central position in the town plan. Even though it has been excavated during 
three periods, in the 1920s, 1960s, and 1980s-90s, it remains a little-known monument while many 
of its features are still unspecified.
In its lifetime, the Episcopal Basilica of Dion underwent two major building phases that 
correspond to two successive churches, conventionally called Basilica A and B. Basilica A was a 
three-aisled timber roofed basilica that dates, most probably, to the early 5
th
century A.D. After a 
period of operation, whose time limits cannot be easily determined, Basilica B replaced Basilica A. 
In fact, Basilica A was covered with a 1.70m to 2.20m artificial fill and onto its masonries, which were 
preserved to a single height, the walls of the new church were erected. Basilica B does not deviate 
from the contour of its predecessor, except for the east side that was extended by 5m, forming a new 

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apse. Basilica B also includes a large atrium to the west, surrounded on three sides by porticos with 
annexes, and a trilateral baptistery later added on the west side of the atrium. Moreover, a triconch 
building has been excavated to the south of the church.
The triconch is situated only a few metres away from the basilica’s south wall. Namely, its west side 
is an extension of the east wall of the narthex’s southern annex. It has the same orientation as the atrium 
to which is contemporary. The ground plan consists of a central square space measuring 6.50×6.50m 
expanded on the north, south and east side by semi-circular conches. Two openings on the west wall 
provide access to the interior. On the north side, two or perhaps more auxiliary rooms were attached. 
These rooms communicated with the triconch through a narrow opening on the north conch.
It is well known that the triconch was an architectural form which spread widely during Late 
Antiquity, and due to its impressive spatial effect was used for a variety of buildings that bear special 
importance, both in secular (banquet halls) and religious architecture (mausoleums and memoriae 
of martyrs, baptisteries, even basilica sanctuaries). Nevertheless, only a few triconch buildings have 
been excavated in the region of Illyricum. Therefore, the example of Dion comes to enrich a limited 
corpus of similar buildings, a fact that highlights its importance.
The main question concerning the triconch of Dion is the determination of its function. 
Although there has been a proposal about its identification as a martyrium, there are several 
indications that drive us to a new interpretation. According to its position, articulation, and relation 
to the surrounding buildings, as well as due to the absence of finds typical of a cult building, we 
consider quite likely that the triconch was a triclinium. If this is the case, it could only belong to the 
bishop’s residence, the rest of which must be situated in the unexcavated area to the south of the 
atrium. The above hypothesis gives a new turn to the issue of the overall shape and organization of the 
episcopal complex of Dion and will hopefully contribute to the discussion about the identification 
of the episcopal residences in Greece.