The Immaculate Conception Cathedral () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on Frangon street in the city of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, in northern

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The church follows the Roman or

Latin rite Latin Rite may refer to: *The Latin Church, a ''sui iuris'' church of the Catholic Church *The Latin liturgical rites, a family of Christian rites and uses which includes the Roman Rite *The Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritua ...

and functions as the seat of the

Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki The Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church in northern continental Greece. It is exempt to the Holy See and is not part of any ecclesiastical province, and ...

(''Vicariatus Apostolicus Thessalonicensis'' or Αποστολικό Βικαριάτο Θεσσαλονίκης).

History

Foundation

In the 18th century, the Catholic community in Thessaloniki was served by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. In 1713, the Jesuits built St. Louis Church next to the French consulate. On 30 March 1740, it became a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

. Two years later, a new larger church, also named St. Louis, was built. In 1773, with the

suppression of the Society of Jesus The suppression of the Society of Jesus was the removal of all members of the Jesuits from most of Western Europe and their respective colonies beginning in 1759 along with the abolition of the order by the Holy See in 1773; the papacy acceded ...

, the Jesuits was banned from Greece and the

Lazarists The Congregation of the Mission (), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vincentian Family, ...

replaced them. In 1839, a fire destroyed a third of the city, including the church. The church was rebuilt within a year and dedicated to

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and her

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

.''History of the Cathedral of Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception of Thessaloniki'', ed. Pandelis Printezis, 2009

Construction

On 7 October 1896, the foundation stone of the current church was laid. The church was designed by

Vitaliano Poselli Vitaliano Poselli (1840–1918) was an Italians, Italian architect from Sicily, mostly known for his work in the city of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece. Life He was born in Castiglione di Sicilia in 1838, and studied in Rome. In 1867, the Catho ...

. The parish priest at the time was Fr Erique Heudre. Construction was financially aided by a French tobacco merchant, Frederick Charnaud. The crypt was completed and consecrated on 30 May 1897, it was dedicated to the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

and decorated by Michael Bucar, a Lazarist brother from Slovenia. On 3 May 1900 the church was consecrated by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Augustus Bonetti of PalmyraArchbishop Augustus Bonetti
from catholic-hierarchy.org, retrieved 19 January 2021 and Fr Francois Xavier Lobry, the Lazarist

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Canad ...

in Turkey. In 1926, the church became the seat of the

; which is composed of the Roman Catholic communities in northern Greece.

Repair and renovation

Although the church survived the

Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 250px, The fire as seen from the quay in 1917. 250px, The fire as seen from the Thermaic Gulf. The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 () destroyed two thirds of the city of Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece, leaving more than 70,000 ...

, it was heavily damaged during World War II. The roof, decoration furnishings and organ were all destroyed. After the war, repairs were carried out. The roof was rebuilt, the church was redecorated, and new furnishings, stained glass windows and an organ were installed. In the early 1970s, the altar was moved and in 1981 the crypt was renovated. In 2000, the church building was repainted. In 2008, new lighting, heating and air-conditioning systems were installed.

Parish

The Masses are celebrated in Greek and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. Sundays at 8:00 am and 10:00 am are offered in Greek and English at 7:00. In the city there is also a Catholic cemetery in Ampelokipoi.

References

External links

*
Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Thessaloniki Roman Catholic cathedrals in Greece Churches in Thessaloniki Italianate architecture in Greece Roman Catholic churches completed in 1902 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Greece