TEMPLE OF CHRIST THE SAVIOR, ANO SOTIRITSA
Post-Byzantine building with embedded architectural parts which come from an older Byzantine temple on the same spot from which Sotiritsa got its name.
ANCHORETES’ RESIDENCES AND MONASTERY OF ST. ANARGYROI, AGIA
The St. Anargyroi Monastery is located on the way to Agiocampos, 3 km from Agia.
The monastery was the residence of free anchoretes of the “Mount of the Cells” during the heyday of manasticism.
The monastery is built next to a creek with tall sycamore trees, on the low clearing of a narrow gorge and the anchoretes’ residences can be found on the steep rocks to the east. The main church is single spaced, with a wooden roof and fragments of wall paintings from the 17th century. We know that it existed in 1588 and that it was renovated in the 17th century. Only a two-storey fortification tower with a small dome is salvaged from the precinct.
Two residences of anchoretes with wall paintings from the 12th century on the natural rock are salvaged close to it in a rock’s cavity. The bigger of the two consists of three single-spaced small churches.
MONASTERY OF THE DORMITION OF VIRGIN MARY, POLYDENDRI
Located in Polydendri, on the grounds once belonging to the ex-Royal family. It is a single spaced church with a wooden roof and a narthex (nave). According to the founding inscription in the apse of the Sanctuary, the foundations of the church were laid in 1568. Wall paintings cover the larger part of the church, but they have been painted at a later stage, probably in the 17th century. A second layer of wall paintings is traced in some places.
MONASTERY OF ST IOANNIS THE THEOLOGIAN, VELIKA
It is a site with a panoramic view over the coastline of Velika – Sotiritsa offering an amazing resting area. The Catholicon (the main temple of the monastery) and the enclosure are salvaged in a good condition, while the remaining buildings of the monastery are in ruins. The Catholicon, renovated in 1854, is a cruciform church, with a dome and a narthex (nave). There is a parapet slap from the 11th -12th century above the west entrance with an inscription. A cross is depicted, resting on a graded base, with two antennae, surrounded by vine-twigs and circles with the letters ΙC – XC / N-K. It testifies to the Byzantine history of the monument, which was built in the west, at a higher altitude. A golden coins treasure from the period of the Komninoi family has been found in it and salvaged.
MONASTERY OF ST DIMITRIOS, STOMIO
The Catholicon (main church) follows the Athonite type, with three apses and 4 corner chapels. Its upper part has been destroyed, but is currently renovated by the 7th Ephoria of Byzantine Antiquities. Its façade bears a loft extending to a part of the north and south sides. According to an inscription kept at the monastery, the Catholicon dates from 1543. Its wall paintings from 1758 were destroyed during a fire in 1868 and only traces are salvaged in the four chapels. The paintings belong to the workshop of the painter Theodoros. The 1492 inscription salvaged at the gate testifies to the Byzantine past of the monastery, whose Catholicon was discovered during the excavation works under the modern church.
Special characteristics of the monument
One of the most representative samples of Byzantine architecture, as this was preserved in the 16th century and an important sculptures’ museum (5th, 6th, 11th centuries).