Rotunda of Galerius, a photo from Thessaloniki, Macedonia

Photographer's Note

The Ottoman minaret at left is the only one surviving in Thessaloniki today (or 'Salonika' as it is often abbreviated to.) Most of the more than 40 minarets were demolished after 1912 (after the success of the first Balkan War against Turkey), or collapsed due to the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917. This minaret and rotunda survived the earthquakes of 1932 & 1978. The rotunda was built in 306 AD by the Romans. Emperor Constantine I ordered the conversion of the rotunda to a church in 326 AD. It remained a church for 1200 years. The minaret was added in 1590 AD after the Ottoman invasion of Greece. It was reopened to the public as a museum in 2015 and there are still some impressive Byzantine frescoes high up on the ceiling. I might upload a shot of the arch and Roman sculptures decorating it another time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_of_Galerius_and_Rotunda

pajaran, snunney, bukitgolfb301, pierrefonds, sacimar, jimmyjimmy, jimmyjimmy, danos, ikeharel, rychem, PiotrF, abmdsudi, papagolf21, macjake, Cricri, mcmtanyel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

snunney (130967) 2018-07-16 4:11

Hello Chris,
The soaring minaret is nicely counterbalanced by the palm tree. The saturated blue sky makes a lovely backdrop for the warm colours of the architecture. Excellent rendering of the textural details.

pajaran (117233) 2018-07-16 4:43

Dobar dan.
Lep pogled, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lepo pokazano, dobar kontrast, lepe boje.
Lep minaret i deo dzamije, lepa stara arhitektura.
Zelim vam lepo popodne, sve najbolje u novoj nedelji koja je pocela, srecno.
Paja.

Good day.
Nice view, interesting and good text ...
Beautifully shown, good contrast, beautiful colors.
A beautiful minaret and part of the mosque, beautiful old architecture.
I wish you good afternoon, all the best in the new week that started, good luck.

bukitgolfb301 (54014) 2018-07-16 4:53

Hi Chris

Panfocus (otherwise fish-eye) appraoch makes so ideal adn eye-cathing framework. PL filiter and panfocus make so impressive color balance with enhansing blue color, so stunning shot!

All the best and have a good day! Takero

pierrefonds (115705) 2018-07-16 5:01

Bonjour Chris,

Le palmier aide au cadrage de la scène. La prise de vue permet de voir les détails du minaret et de la rotonde. La lumière met en valeur la beauté des couleurs. Bonne journée.

Pierre

sacimar (38173) 2018-07-16 5:29

Hello Chris,

interesting image of this minaret, I like the point of view and the other elements around the vertical structure, it looks well preserved, well seen,

Best regards,

Sergio

Sergiom (117241) 2018-07-16 5:46

Bonjour Chris,

J'aime beaucoup la construction de cette image. La contre plongée donne de l'ampleur à la tour et aux palmiers qui se complètent à merveille. Superbe ciel bleu.

Amicalement

Serge

danos (110407) 2018-07-16 6:31

Hello Chris,
nice the view of the upper section of the Rotounda with the Minaret on the left to looks like to penetrates the sky.The dark silhouette of the palm tree on the left creates balance in the scene.

Regards,Danos

ikeharel (114777) 2018-07-16 7:05

Hello Chris,
A most difficult POV to take this upward's, but the monument is a notable place in Thessaloniki and with historic value.
Maybe a further back perspective should be applied, but nevertheless managed to show how imposing it is.
Good night,
Ike

rychem (72187) 2018-07-16 8:34

I like your low POV, great graphical effect of the minaret taken against the blue sky, the palm tree is here a good contrast to the bright walls
regards Ryszard

PiotrF (56210) 2018-07-16 13:47

Hello Chris,
Interesting composition with Ottoman minaret, great architecture.
Very good picture with beautiful colours and good quality.
Very well done.
Regards
Piotr

carlo62 (81265) 2018-07-16 14:01

Ciao Chris
lunga e travagliata la storia di questa rotonda.
Ottima la tua foto, hai messo il minareto e la palma ai lati della rotonda, in modo da bilanciare la foto.
Saluti
Carlo

abmdsudi (95869) 2018-07-16 19:19

Hi Chris
A wonderful pov where depth and perspective are accentuated by the vertical convergence transforming this to an appealing architectural shot. Brilliant in tones, details and contrast to blue sky is mouth watering! Great effort and very cool shot.
Best wishes

papagolf21 (152607) 2018-07-16 21:48

Bonjour, cher Chris,
Une belle leçon d'histoire à travers cette composition.
Bravo également pour le cadrage pour donner à cette architecture l'importance qu'elle mérite.
Amitiés.
Philippe

lousat (140082) 2018-07-17 1:36

HI Chris,your perspective seems very similar of my last post,same big minaret and same lens distorsions. Obviously i like it...ehehe...a very sharp composition showing the old minaret of Thessaloniki in a great way! Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

macjake (98544) 2018-07-17 12:02

Hi Chris
I love the lean and distortion, I know many others do not, such as Malgo and Gert. But that's ok, its all so subjective anyways. amazing to hear its basically the only minaret left standing, thats so sad in a way. Funny to have the lean on the left, and the lean on the right with the palm tree, its as if they're trying to connect with each other :) the blues contrast so well with the stone colour. love the ancient subject. good final result here. cheers
Craig

Nicou (193814) 2018-07-17 13:09

Hello

quel effet de cadrage et vue avec le cil pur ce minaret et cet édifice tout en ronda vec le découpage en noir de l'arbre quelle compo grandisoe vue.
Bravo et amitié
Nciou

Cricri (176) 2018-07-17 22:44

Hi Chris
Belle mise en valeur du minaret sous le fond bleu, le choix du cadrage, la lumière rend bien les moindres détails, bonne note info, présentation
Bonne journée
cricri

jmdias (116663) 2018-07-19 12:50

chris

I didn't know about this monument in this town. unfortunately I didn't visited the city while in greece. nice angle showing the place from a lower angle. excellent result.

take care

jorge

mcmtanyel (69414) 2018-07-28 12:00

Hello Chris,
This is an interesting mixture of Roman and Islamic architecture. I guess Moslems converted most places of worship to mosques - this place has been converted three times: from paganism to Christianity to Islam and then back to Christianity! 👍
Regards,
MT