The cathedral-sized Red Hall, sometimes called the Red Basilica, was originally built as a giant temple to the Egyptian gods Serapis and Isis in the 2nd century AD. It’s still an imposing-looking place, though rather scattered and battered. At the time of research, the structure was closed for renovation, which will see some of the hall’s severely damaged high walls repaired.
During its pagan pomp, this must have been an awe-inspiring place. In his Book of Revelation, St John the Divine wrote that this was one of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse, singling it out as the ‘throne of the devil’. Look for a hole in the podium in the centre which allowed a priest to hide and appear to speak through the 10m-high cult statue. The building is so big that the early Christians didn’t convert it into a church but built a basilica inside it dedicated to St John, of course. The most intact section, the southern rotunda, was used for religious and cult rituals; once covered in marble panels, it is now red brick.
Along with the glass-sided lantern at the northern (main) entrance, the curious red flat-brick walls of this large, roofless structure are visible from midway down the roads to the Acropolis and town centre. You can easily walk to the Red Hall, or stop your taxi here on your way to/from the Acropolis.
