What overtop even Kastoria’s natural beauty are its great monuments. Among them, the churches, approximately 80 temples dated from the 9th to the 14th century – building that indicate the important role that Kastoria has played in the Balkan culture. Most of them are humble, small and single-space churches and they give a reason why Kastoria is worth visiting. Small masterpieces whose even one stone shows the prowess of the craftsman that built them, while their decorations are a depiction of all aspects and expression of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine art. Here, we indicatively present some of the churches that are considered to be among the most significant samples of the ecclesiastic art in Kastoria.
ANARGYROI
One of the most ancient churches in Kastoria, the three-aisled, initially a tile-roof basilica with a narthex (the space in front of the main church), Agioi Anargyroi are located at the northern side of the city. The narthex is linked to the church that has three arcades, the most southern of which is not used since the Byzantine era. The decoration of the church’s facades includes alternations of shapes of ceramic bricks and irregular stones as well as marbles. The interior of the church has two layers of wall paintings. The first is dated back to early 11th century, while the second one in the 1180-90 decade and depicts the founder, Thodoros Limniotis together with his wife, Anna Radini, and their son, Ioannis, offering the model of the church to Virgin Mary. The decoration of the church is attributed to three artist of different origins. The most significant frescoes are said to have been painted by an anonymous painter that scholars have named as “A”. The figures are delicate, very tall, with flowing pleats, very close to the body. Moreover, he has painted the faces so as to show emotionally intense expressions. The researchers link this technique to the so-called “dynamic” method, works of which can be found in Macedonia, Crete, Sicily, Cyprus and Russia. The fact that the specific technique has been applied at areas that are far away from each other, indicates that it had flourished at some great artistic center of Constantinople.
AGIOI APOSTOLOI ELEOUSIS
The church of Agioi Apostoloi is a single space, made of stones, with wooden links and materials consisting of mud. This is a way to construct building found in the regions of northwestern Greece after the Fall of Constantinople. It is located at the area that separates the northern from the southern part of Kastoria. Researchers suggest that it is a very important monument and a benchmark for art in this region. The decoration of the church, according to the inscription on the northern wall, was performed in 1547. From an artistic point of view, it is attributed to a workshop of the so-called School of Northwestern Greece and was carried out by an important painter of that time, Onoufrios. The frescoes of the eastern part and some on the northern one still survive in a good condition. The upper zone has been destroyed and those on the western part have suffered extensive damage.
AGIOI TREIS
The church is a single-space, timber-roof basilica and was built around 1400. During the 19th century addendums were made to the northern and southern parts of the building, in the form of open porticos. At the same time, the western part of the church was repaired and the roof was also partially restored. All walls of the church are painted and according to the founding inscription found in the holy building, the frescoes were painted in 1401. The painting is of high quality and givers to the researchers significant information about the techniques applied in Kastoria in the first decades of the 15th century. For some reason, the frescoes were covered with whitewash. When the first attempts were made to reveal them, then the founding inscription was also discovered.
AGIOS ATHANASIOS OF MOUZAKI
The church of Agios Athanasios is a significant monument of the 14th century and was built during a period that was tough for the region. It’s a single-aisle basilica, with semi-circular bay to the east, which a narthex built later on is found to the west. The founders of the church were the members of Mouzaki family, with Albanian origins. The decoration of the church is attributed to a workshop whose work has also been identified in other churches, such as the church of Birth in Maligrant and the church of the Fountain that received life, in Borje, Korce. The artistic workshop is among those that continued the tradition of the art in the first quarter of the 14th century.
AGIOS GEORGIOS OMORFOKKLISIAS
The church of Agios Georgios belongs to the eastern, four-column type of the cross-in-square church. The shape is oblong, roofed with the system of domes and dominated both lengthwise and breadthwise by the tall and wide arches of the cross. In order to make invisible the separation of the interior spaces of the building, the domes are supported on two draughts. It is estimated that the church was built in the mid-12th century. This church also has two layers of paintings. The first one is dated at the time of the monument’s erection and was recently brought to light, while the second one is subsequent and a large part thereof was destroyed by fire. At the exterior, the church’s decoration is an example of harmony between masses and ratios. The ceramic decoration is also abundant. The architecture of the church resembles the on of Agios Klimis in Achrida. The southern wall of the church has a fretwork of Agios Georgios (St George), a work of rare Byzantine art.
AGIOS GEORGIOS TOU VOUNOU
The church was built in the 14th century and is a single-space basilica, with a narthex on the western and southern side. The construction of the building is simple – it reminds the constructions of the region, meaning stone-built with mud. It is located at Varlaam neighborhood of Kastoria and is called “tou vounou” [“of the mountain”] because it lies at the roots of the mountain that is named after Agios Athanasios. The interior of the church has many wall painting dated back to the second half of the 14th century. Moreover, the narthex of the monument also has wall paintings, which however are dated later. According to the inscription found in the church, they were created in the 17th century.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS MONACHIS EFPRAXIAS
It is a small, single-space building, but the wall paintings are of great value, since they represent the artistic workshop of Kastoria, which wrote in the 15th century its own chapter in the history of post-Byzantine painting. According to the inscription located at the old entrance of the church, the church was restored in 1486 by nun Efpraxia. The entrance was moved westwards and at its position a window was opened, because the construction of the narthex changed the arrangement of the entire church. The wall paintings surviving at the northern, eastern and western walls of the structure are of really high quality and represent the painters of Kastoria’s artistic workshop, which by the end of the 15th century was the messenger of the trend for renovation after the classic forms of painting that prevailed in the 14th century. The workshop introduces new elements from everyday life and the realism of the Italian painting, regarding the depiction of space and an expressive realism on faces. The differentiation of the expression of the artistic workshop is found in monuments of Kastoria dated the first quarter of the 15th century.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS TIS ARCHONITSSAS THEOLOGINAS
The church of Agios Nikolaos belongs to the type of single-space, timber-roof basilica, ending up eastwards to a five-sided apse. The walls of the building, made of stones, have horizontal timbering. The church of Lady Theologia is situated at Mouzaviki neighborhood and belongs to the parish of Agios Thomas. At the northern part of the church survive three icons, created by painters of Kastoria’s artistic workshop that in the 15th century wrote its own history of post-Byzantine painting. The expressions of the workshop, activated in the wider region, are renovating, with an intention to escape from the traditional painting of the 14th century. They are influenced by the Italian painting of the 14th and 15th centuries, giving realism to their works. The rest of the church’s walls are full of paintings. Wall paintings belong to two periods; the end of the 15th century that we already mentioned, and 1663, the year that the narthex was added to the church.
AGIOS NIKOALOS TOY KASNITZI
The church of Agios Nikolaos, whose erection is dated at the second half of the 12th century, belongs to the type of the single-space, outbond church with a narthex. It lies very closely to the Byzantine acropolis of Kastoria, at Omonoia Square. The masonry follows the cloisonné system, which is also applied for the ceramic-plastic decoration. Ceramic plates form horizontal layers, double or triple, while in between the limestone there are vissala (ceramic blocks). The church belongs to the group of monuments that are characteristic of the artistic currents prevailing during the significant period of the Byzantine painting in Kastoria. The walls of the monument are full of paintings that share the same style as those of the second layer at Agioi Anargyoi church. At the eastern side, at the sanctuary bay, one can see Panagia Platytera of the skies, Annunciation and Obsecration. All other walls of the church are divided into zones. The first zone shows full body figures of Saints, in full army clothing because of the capacity of the church’s founder, officer Kasnitzis. The second zone depicts busts of the Saints and the third one shows scenes taken from the twelve great feasts (the most important Orthodoxy feasts). The eastern wall of the narthex depicts Kasnitzis offering the model of the church to Agios Nikolaos [St Nicolas]. His wife, Anna, is also depicted. The painting technique indicates an inclination to monumental compositions, but at the same time is one of the lucid stances of the individual figures. It is worth noting that the wall painting system of the church has served as a model for the painting of the walls in later churches.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS TOU KYRITZI
A small Byzantine church, built in the 14th century and repaired and extended in 1654. From the paintings of the 14th century some frescoes still survive at the northern part of the church. During the restoration performed in the 17th century, the church was decorated with paintings that covered all other sides as well. Kyritzis family is known in the city of Kastoria also for the construction of schools during the period that the region was under the Turkish occupation.
AGIOS STEFANOS ENORIAS ELEOUSIS
The church of Agios Stefanos is situated at the eastern part of the city and is one of the most ancient monuments of Kastoria. Built in the 9th century, it is a three-aisled, domed basilica with a narthex. The three aisles are covered by semi-cylindrical domes, the central of which is the tallest, while the walls bear arc-like openings. At the narthex a floor is formed, the so-called “askitario”, dedicated to Saint Anna. The archaic character of the building is proven by the synthronon existing at the sanctuary, at the eastern side of the monument. A special feature of the church is the semi-hexagonal apse of the sanctuary. The interior decoration of the church was performed at various eras, from mid-9th century to the 15th century. Special reference shall be made to the wall paintings dated late 9th century and which are a valuable source of information regarding art in the period after the iconomachy period. At the exterior, the figures of Agios Stefanos are decorated in a way that is characteristic in this region, meaning the alternation between limestone shapes and ceramic plates. Moreover, on the eastern side of the central aisle we see two suns, made of vissara. Windows are decorated using redented tapes. All windows are different from each other. They differ in the size and the opening of the arches. A special characteristic of the monument is the semi-hexagonal apse of the sanctuary.
ISODIA TIS THEOTOKOU – VASILEIADA
Triune church, built on the ruins of an older church in 1861, according to the inscription carved on a marble plate, mounted at the southern side of the building. The left aisle of the loft is dedicated to St Nicolas and the right one to St John, the Theologist. The church has also great icons, painted by artists from Chionades before 1860.
PANAGIA MAVRIOTISSA MONASTERY
The monastery’s main church [katholikon] was created during the time that Byzantine painting was at its peak in Kastoria. Its construction is estimated in the era of Emperor Alexios Komninos (1081-1118). It is a single-space, timber-roof basilica. At the western side of the building is formed a spacious narthex and at the eastern the semi-circular apse of the sanctuary. Many wall paintings of the north and south walls of the church were unfortunately ruined during restoration works of the building’s main structure. However, the wall painting on the eastern and western walls of the main church and the narthex still survive and include remarkable realistic elements. Among them, the monumental composition of Virgin Mary’s Dormition and the Crucifixion on the western wall of the main church as well as the depiction of the Second Advent at the narthex. They were created in different periods, at the beginning and at the end of the 12th century. Wall paintings also still survive at the exterior of the church, in front of the entrance to the katholikon, and which are dated back to 1260. The artistic workshop that had undertaken the decoration of the monument is closely linked to Constantinople.
CHURCH OF THE DORMITION OF VIRGIN MARY, ZEGVOSTASI
A single-space, cross-in-square, domed church. In the past it had a portico on the southern and western side, which was demolished, revealing only the main building that is situated on a tump, outside Zevgostasi village. The frescoes inside the building were painted in two different periods. According to the inscription, the first wall painting was performed in 1432 and covers the walls of the main church. Many frescoes have suffered damages from the waters running through the ruined roof, while the dome’s wall paintings have been irreparably ruined. The second period of wall painting includes those that still survive in good condition and cover the walls of the narthex and some lower parts of the church’s walls. Characteristic are the scenes of the burial of Agios Ioannis, Prodromos [St John the Forerunner], the System of Angels and the human kind.
PANAGIA KOUBELIDIKI, OR SKOUTARIOTISSA
The church dedicated to virgin Mary is a tricoch, domed type and is located at the old Byzantine acropolis of Kastoria city. The name “koubelidiki” was attributed during the years of the Turkish occupation. “Koubes” in Turkish means “dome”. The name “Skoutariotissa” is the one the church was known by initially, in the Byzantine era, and is mentioned on the base of the dome: “… HOLY VIRGIN MARY, NAMED ‘SKOUTARIOTISSA’… THE DIVINE AND MOST VENERABLE CHURCH AND UNBEATABLE BY CONTRIBUTION OF PAIN AND EXPENSES OF THE MOST KIND….”. The word “unbeatable” refers to the walls of the acropolis and the protection they offered. The main, square space of the church is roofed by a dome, which is supported on four arches, standing on the four sides of the square and are in between the central square space and the semi-circular conchs. The elevated arches form a cross at the superstructure, on which the circular base of the dome lies. At the western side of the main space, a narrow narthex is formed and covered by a semicircular apse, while the second narthex (outer narthex) follows, which was added later on, by the end of the 15th century. It is worth noting the special ceramic decoration of the dome, which proves the skill and ingenuity of the building’s designer. The church, according to older researchers (Miller, Orlando, Pelekanidis, Megan, Krautheimer), is dated back to the 10th or 11th century, when compared to buildings of Epirus and Mesivria. The painting of the interior walls of the church cover the period from the 13th to the 17th century. The eldest layer, estimated to have been created somewhere around 1260-1280 and is currently in bad condition due to bombarding that took place in 1940, suggests the representative artistic trends for the specific period. The main features of the technique are the refined colours, with a harmony of combinations, a unified green creation on the face and plasticity of the clothing pleats that add volume to the figures. Because of the said characteristics, the church’s painting is estimated to belong to the so-called “voluminous” style, where the art of the second half of the 13th century prevails. This style is first met in artistic workshops of Constantinople. From all wall paintings of this period, those that are still distinct are the Dormition of Virgin Mary, on the western wall, and the Holy Trinity at the semicircular arch of the internal narthex. The painting of the later period, meaning of the 14th, the 15th and 17th centuries survive in very good condition both on the interior and exterior sides of the church’s walls. On the exterior wall is depicted the Dance of Salome, painted in 1496, while beneath it one can see the Prayer, on an older layer.
PANAGIA FANEROMENI
The church of Panagia Faneromeni is a single-space, timber-roof basilica of the 14th century. Most probably it was used as the main church of a monastery. It is located on a rock, at the northern part of Kastoria city. It is a simple building, externally lime-casted, something that deprives us from any information about its masonry, save for the sanctuary’s apse, where some attempts for decoration can be seen. Inside the church, under the black veil that the candles have created, there are wall painting of the 14th century, still in very good condition, created by artistic workshops operating also outside Kastoria. From a technical point of view, it is workshops that continue the painting tradition of the first quarter of the 4th century.
TAXIARCHIS MITROPOLEOS
One of the eldest churches in Kastoria is very close to the city’s Metropolis. According to the first layers of wall paintings dated back to the 9th century and based on the founder’s inscription located at the interior of the western wall, the church was founded in the 9th century. The type of the building is a three-aisled, domed basilica with a narthex and has been constructed using materials from older Christian churches (columns, chapiters, longitudinal stones). We see two periods of wall paintings. The first one partially survives at a very good state and is dated back to the 9th century, while the second period when the church was repainted is in 1359-60 (in the years of king Simeon Uressi, the Palaeologus). The initial masonry of the northern aisle has been demolished. At the exterior, the decoration of the church reminds the technique used in the monuments of Kastoria during the same period. Some differences evidently exist, mainly because the size of the church is small.
AGIOS GEORGIOS POLITEIAS
A church built in the 11th century, but which underwent multiple changes in the course of the centuries that followed. The main alteration took place in the 17th century, when the church was considerably extended and the wall paintings were influenced by the paintings that the mansions of the regions applied at that period. The church is a three-aisled basilica, with a narthex at the northern side.
PANAGIA TSONTOU VARDA
Because of the Byzantine characteristics that it bears, the church is considered to belong to the Byzantine period. However, unfortunately, in the centuries that followed, the building interventions applied, totally altered the wall paintings at the interior of the church. The wooden chancel screen of the church depicts Saints Constantine and Helen, while St John the Forerunner is dated to the 19th century.
TAXIARCHIS OIKONOMOU
A church of the 10th century, belonging to the style of the single-space, timber-roof basilica, ending to the east to a semicircular conch. A lower narthex is located to the west, built at a later stage. The eldest layer of wall painting at the interior of the church is dated to the 10th century. At the western part of the building, icons depicting the crucifixion and the removal from the Cross are faintly distinguished. The other layers of wall paintings were created in the centuries that followed. Among them, an amazing fresco of the 15th century, which depicts the figure of Virgin Mary holding Jesus Christ in her left hand [Aristerokratousa]. The exterior walls of the church are decorated with clay tiles, impregnated with mortar during the building stage, so as to form several shapes – a technique implemented at the Byzantine churches.
AGIOS ALYPIOS OIKONOMOU
The church is located at Oikonomou neighborhood and its erection dates back to 1422 AD. It is a small, single-space church with a narthex that was added later on. In the past, according to the descriptions of Professor Anastasios Orlandos in his book “The Byzantine Monuments of Kastoria”, written in 1938, the wall paintings were remarkable. Today only a few survive and not in a good state.
AGIOS DIMITRIOS ELEOUSSIS
A small single-space, timber-roof basilica, estimated to have been erected in the 12th century. According to the inscription in the church, the building was extended and restored in 1609. From the initial structure, only a small part survives and on the walls thereof there are paintings dated to 1230.
AGIOS STYLIANOS – ALYPIOU (ELEOUSSA PARISH)
A small, single-space church of 1200 with a narthex added at a later stage. Initially the church was dedicated to Agios Georgios (St George).
AGIOS NIKOLAOS TZOTZA (AGIOS LOUKAS PARISH)
The church is a small, single-space, timber-roof basilica. It is a Byzantine church that in the years of the Turkish occupation was extended. Based on the technique that the painter has employed for the wall paintings, they must date back to the 14th century. The Annunciation of Virgin Mary, the Hierarchs, Holy Virgin Mary of the Skies, found above the sanctuary, are some of the wall paintings that still survive in very good condition.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS PETRITIS (DRAGOTA PARISH)
Another Byzantine church, estimated to have been erected in the 14th century. The building must have been restored as well as extended in the post-Byzantine years that followed. The wall paintings at the interior of the church are dated back to the 19th century, an estimation that also applies for the painting of the chancel. Only a few wall paintings survive at the eastern side of the building from those dated to the 14th century; and actually at a bad state.
AGIOS IOANNIS PRODROMOS (MITROPOLI PARISH)
A small, single-space, timber-roof basilica at the center of the city of Kastoria, at Omonoia Square. The church, reconstructed in 1950, was built in the second half of the 14th century, according to the decorative elements as well as the technique employed. At the interior still survice some wall paintings of Platytera ton Ouranon and the scene of the Annunciation of Virgin Mary, as also the scene of the Assumption on the pediment of the church
AGIOS IOANNIS PRODROMOS (APOZARI NEIGHBORHOOD)
The initial structure of the building is chronologically set to the Byzantine era and today only the sanctuary’s apse survives. The style of the building, renovated in 1701, is a single-space basilica, with an elevated loft. According to the inscription at the interior of the church, the painting of the walls was done in 1727. Among the wall paintings, there are scenes from the Martyrdom of the Prostitute as well as depictions of Archangel Michael, as well as many whole-body figures of Saints.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS MEGALEIOU (OIKONOMOU PARISH)
Another church located at Oikonomou neighborhood. It is located at Toka street and it is estimated to have been built in the 16th century. A single-space, timber-roof basilica and only part of the old narthex survives today, at the western side. Moreover, the external wall paintings of the church are not in a good condition. At the interior, both at the north and east sides, wall paintings dated back to 1505 still survive.
AGIOI APOSTOLOI ELEOUSSIS
A single-space, timber-roof basilica, the wall-paintings of which are a significant sample of the art of the 16th century. The internal spaces of the church have been painted by one of the outmost painters of that era, an artist with a personal style and who, according to some people, creates his own school in Central Albania and Western Macedonia; Onoufrios. Some large parts of the wall paintings that were completed in 1547 survive today in good condition.
PANAGIA MOUZEVIKIS – AGIOS MINAS PANAGIA
A small, single-space, longitudinal basilica with a loft that was later added to the structure. The creation of the wall paintings at the interior of the church started in late 14th century and was completed by 1650. Large parts thereof still survive in good condition. The church must have been named after the fresco of Agios Minas to the west of the church.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS ARCHONTOS THOMANOU (ELEOUSSA PARISH)
Another church that is a fine example of the art prevailing at the time it was constructed. The walls were painted in 1639 by painter Nikolaos, from Linotopi, Grammos, a region where several great masters of art, with high artistic value were born. The initial structure of the church was a single-space basilica with a narthex at the northern wall. The current form of the church has changed, as a dome was added, while the western and northern walls that the initial structure included are no longer there.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS – CHARALAMPOU (AGIOI ANARGYROI PARISH)
A church built in the post-Byzantine period. The style is a single-space basilica, with an elevated, en suite narthex. The technique used for the creation of the wall paintings refers to the 16th century. Only very few elements of the interior’s wall paintings survive today.
AGIOS GEORGIOS MOUZEVIKIS ΑΓΙΟΥ ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ ΜΟΥΖΕΒΙΚΗ
The church first operated as a katholikon [main church] of a monastery in the 16th century. The people of Kastoria know it as the “secret school”. It is a single-space basilica, built in the post-Byzantine period. The iconography of the church is dated to the 16th and 17th centuries. Unfortunately it is no longer in good condition.
TAXIARCHES APOZARI
A post-Byzantine, three-aisled basilica with a narthex and an elevated loft. It is dated back to 1622, but unfortunately the iconography has been extensively ruined. At the eastern internal wall of the building some paintings still survive, but in most of them the figures are not recognizable.
ISODIA TIS THEOTOKOU (VARLAAM PARISH)
The church was a glebe of Sinai monastery and according to the inscription on the gate it was constructed in early 17th century. The building is on a hill and is made of irregular stones. It is a single-space basilica, ending to the eastern to a semicircular conch. The narthex of the church includes icons that depict the Future Judgment, as well as a series of martyrdom and whole-body figures of Saints. Moreover, at the conch of the Sanctuary still survives the icon of Platytera and on the pediments we see scenes from the Assumption and the Transfiguration. Finally, a depiction of Mt Sinai survives on the western wall of the narthex.
PANAGIA RASIOTISSA (SERVIOTI PARISH)
A single-space, timber-roof basilica of the 15th century. The iconography of the interior parts is divided in three zones and was painted from the 15th to the 16th century. The church is located at Servioti neighborhood.
ZOODOCHOS PIGI (EVRAIDA PARISH)
A three-aisled basilica, with a narthex at the south end of the building. According to the inscriptions, the interior wall paintings as well as the icons of the chancel were painted in the mid 18th century.
AGIOS IOANNIS THEOLOGS (SERVIOTI PARISH)
The church is built on top of an older monument, parts of which were integrated in the construction of the new building, dated to the 19th century. The church is a three-aisled basilica, with an open interior balcony all along the southern side. Among the icons of the church, some are of special value, like the one of Agios Ioannis Theologos.
PANAGIA ELEOUSSIS
The initial structure of the church is dated back to 1552. The surviving monument is a three-aisled basilica, repaired and extended in the modern years. Only a few of the initial wall paintings survive today. The icons of the wooden chancel still survive.
AGIOI ANARGYROI (AGIOI ANARGYROI PARISH)
The initial structure of the church is dated back to the 16th century. The church has been repaired multiple times and the iconography was renewed in the 19th century. It is a three-aisled, timber-roof basilica, with an elevated loft at the western part. The first wall paintings at the interior walls of the church belong to the famous painter of that era, Onoufrios. Some parts of the wall paintings are exhibited at the Byzantine Museum of Kastoria.
AGIOS ANDREAS KARYDI
A single-space basilica, with a timber roof and an open portico of the 18th century. Some reparations were done in the 19th century. It has a very beautiful wooden chancel with a series of icons created in 1776, according to the inscription that bears the figure of Agios Andreas [St Andrew].
AGIOS NIKOLAOS KARAVIDA (MITROPOLI PARISH)
The church was erected before 1656, when – according to the inscriptions – the first wall paintings of the interior were made. The building has undergone several interventions that have changed its initial shape. Only parts of the iconography on the northern and eastern walls still survive today. They are dated back to 1593, while the exterior representation of the Second Advent is dated to 1656.
AGIOS THOMAS (MOUZEVIKI PARISH)
A building of the 1849, built in the style of a three-aisled, timber-roof basilica. The wall paintings at the interior of the church were created also in 1849 and still survive in good condition. The church’s chancel is estimated to belong to the same period as the church.
AGIOS NIKOLAOS KARYDI
A small, single-space church located at the traditional settlement of Doltso, at the city of Kastoria. The timber-roof basilica was built in 1711. Today, the wooden chancel with five large icons still survives, as also do parts of the wall paintings at the eastern and western parts of the church, while the surviving wall paintings of the narthex are in bad condition.
AGIA PARASKEVI OIKONOMOU
A post-Byzantine church built in 1846. A typical sample of the city’s churches built in the same period. The church’s iconography was performed by Athanasios Panagiotou, an artist from Kastoria.
AGIOI THEODOROI
A simple church, with an especially minimal façade, located at Varlaam parish. It is a three-aisled, timber-roof basilica and was built in 1882. The interior of the church includes a wooden chancel, made in 1896.
AGIOI APOSTOLOI SERVIOTI
A church built in 1857 and decorated in the same period. The building is a three-aisled basilica and it was decorated by painter Machairas, who has also painted other churches in Kastoria. The church has a wooden chancel, also dated 1857, while the ceiling is decorated with elements used that period for the decoration of the region’s mansions.
METROPOLIS
A triune church dedicated to Saints Constantine and Helen, to the Dormition of Virgin Mary and Saint Nicolas. The building is a three-aisled basilica with stones and was built in 1857. The areas of the church roof also heirlooms from come ruined churches.
AGIOS LOUKAS
A building of 1840, most possibly built on top of an older church that was also dedicated to Saint Loukas. It is a timber-roof, oblong, single-space basilica with a loft at the western part. To the east, the building ends up to a semi-hexagonal conch. The wall paintings on the interior walls and the ceiling are posterior, dated to 1870, contrary to the chancel that was made at the same period as the church.
AGIOS ATHANASIOS (AGIOI ANARGYROI PARISH)
A small, single-space, timber-roof basilica of the 19th century. The church is close to the Byzantine Museum of Kastoria, at the top of the hill. The church’s wall paintings have special value, since only very few samples of the icnography of that period still survive. The church belongs to the parish of Agioi Anargyroi.
AGIOS DIMITRIOS
A church of the Varlaam parish, built in 1882. A three-aisled basilica, with a beautiful, wooden chancel, which bears icons made in 1889.
AGIOS PANTELEIMONAS (VARLAAM PARISH)
A building of 1857, a three-aisled basilica with the aisles separated in two wooden column series. The church’s chancel was constructed in 1877 and is made of wood. A wall painting also exists at the conch of the oblation.
AGIA PARASKEVI DOLTSOU
A holy building constructed by the end of the 19th century, on top of an older church that had been severely damaged. Most icons are repainted and are estimated to be dated to the same period as the erection of the church. Agia Paraskevi is located at the traditional neighborhood of Doltso in Kastoria.
AGIOI ANARGYROI
A post-Byzantine church located at the traditional neighborhood of Doltso, Kastoria and which took its current form in the 19th century. A three-aisled basilica, whose chancel and icons were taken from an older church located at the same site. The interior walls of the church were decorated from scratch in 1864.
AGIOS ATHANASIOS ZIKOVISTAS
A church that initially operated as the katholikon of a monastery in Agios Ilias village. The building was constructed in 1629, while the iconography of the interior walls was made by the famous painter from Chionada, Michael. The technique that the painter used include some significant elements of the evolution of the Byzantine iconography tradition.
