According to the census of churches of Chios, this church has been built in 1412. In the beginning, it was small with arches and one aisle. But as it had to cover the needs of worship of the whole village, a second aisle was added with a united roof. The Northern aisle used to have groin-vaults. This expansion took place in 1794.
The first church had the small door as entrance. It is on the right side of the present entrance, next to the church of Aghios Vassilios. Outside, the more ancient building can be noticed because of the blind apses and the stonework. Inside the old part of the church was adorned by remarkable frescoes which went irrepairable ravages by the Turks in 1822 during the "great massacre of Chios". Since the entire church had serious damages it was repaired in 1833.
The icon-screen of the church is really remarkable. It is made of walnut tree trunk and it is totally handmade. This scarce and excellent example of local woodcarving has depictions from the Old and the New Testament. Its date of construction is April 14th, 1833. In the highest point under Christ on the Cross, on the basis of the cross all the tools needed for the crucifixion can be noticed: the ladder, the pair of pincers and the hammer. On the next zone below depictions from the New Testament are seen. From left to right: Christ and his twelve disciples, the crucifixion, the deposition from the cross, and the resurrection.
Over the central Sublime Port there is an impressively constructed and audaciously conceived depiction: the sun. It is indeed an audacious inspiration of the artist since Christian worship is very cautious in terms of references to pagan symbols. The most possible explanation is that it has a symbolic meaning and identifies the light of Christian faith. It reminds us of Christ's saying: "I am the light of the world". The lower part of the icon-screen is adorned by scenes from the Old Testament. From left to right: The original sin where Adam's and Eve's figures as well as the snake and the apple can be noticed. The fall from Paradise where Adam and Eve crying pass through the gate of Paradise. The sacrifice of Abraham where Abraham , Isaac and the sheep which takes the child's place can be noticed.
On the wall across the icon-screen the two-headed eagle is painted. That reveals a Patriarchic privilege of the church. The buildings around the church up to the proskynima are connected with it. It seems that this cluster of buildings was a monastery which used to have its own separate defensive armouring.
The idea of erecting a school building matured into the thought of the villagers for several years. The need for the erection of a new and modern School was born after the creation of the New Taxiarch. They used as a school, a small temple, the Temple of Sotiros, which were in the square of the village.
Sightseeing
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