Early Byzantine Churches exhibit many parallels to ancient Jerusalem Temple architecture, art, and symbolism.  (See W. Hamblin and D. Seely, Solomon’s Temple: Myth and History, (Thames and Hudson, 2007).)

An exquisite small church in Athens, Agios Eleftherios, is a classic example.  (See the small building in the center of the Google map to the south of the large cathedral.)  Overshadowed by the nearby monumental city Cathedral (Metropolis), Agios Eleftherios can be easily overlooked.  But it is well worth a visit. 

To the upper right of the main door is a symbolic representation of two cherubs flanking the Tree of Life, a motif from the Temple with its cherubs and palm trees (1 Kgs 6:29). 

The inside of the church (which unfortunately is frequently locked), is quite sparse and bare by Byzantine standards.  However, it was recently renovated according to ancient Byzantine style. 

Byzantine Churches originally had a chancel barrier (templon), a low stone parapet that marked the sacred space of the sanctuary (bema or hierateion) where only priests could enter.  “In theological terms, the bema was viewed as the Christian equivalent of the ‘Holy of Holies’ in the ancient Jewish Temple” (Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, 1:281)  “The chancel barriers indicate the place of prayer: the outside is for the people, and the inside, the Holy of Holies, is accessible only to the priests” (St. Germanus of Constantinople, On the Divine Liturgy, 9)

The restorations at Agios Eleftherios have retained the old style templon, along with the archaic veil, as can be seen in the photographs to the right.  In early Byzantine churches the sanctuary was often marked by a veil in imitation of the veil of Solomon’s Temple.  Over time, the veil was generally replaced in Byzantine churches with panels of icons, known as iconostasis.  It is therefore uncommon to see old-style veils in contemporary churches.

These veils were frequently marked with gammadia, angular marks in the shape of the Greek letter gamma, as seen on the veil in the photos.

(John W. Welch and Claire Foley, Gammadia on Early Jewish and Christian Garments, BYU Studies 36/3, 1996–97. http://byustudies.byu.edu/shop/pdfSRC/36.3WelchFoley.pdf)

In early Byzantine Christianity, gammadia were marked on three items.  1- The veils of the sanctuaries; 2- on altar cloths (see photo to the right from St. Apollinare Classe in Ravenna, with Melchizedek at the altar, with the veil with gammadia partly opened behind him), and 3- on the robes of priestly figures (see figures to the lower right from the Basilica of St. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.)

Thus, although now uncommon because they have been replaced by the iconostasis, surviving remnants of the Byzantine version of the Solomonic Temple veil can still occasionally be found in Byzantine Churches

(A functioning sanctuary veil can also be seen in Agii Irini Church a few blocks northwest of Agios Eleftherios in Athens.)