The Feast of Saint Demetrios

The Feast of Saint Demetrios is an annual Orthodox feast observed in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 26 October. The feast is held at the Church of Saint Demetrios, the five-aisled basilica raised over the site of the Roman bath where, by tradition, the saint was martyred under the emperor Galerius around 306 AD. The observance begins with the Great Vespers on the eve, followed on 26 October by the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, a civic doxology and a military procession through the centre of the city.

The 2025 feast coincided with the 113th anniversary of the liberation of Thessaloniki from Ottoman rule, which occurred on 26 October 1912. The relics of Saint Demetrios, long held at San Lorenzo in Campo in Italy, were returned to the church in stages and have rested there since 1980. The presiding hierarch is the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki. The basilica has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988 as part of the Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki.