This is the church of St. Nicholas in Mystras, Greece. Mystras was a fortified Byzantine town near Sparta in the very south of mainland Greece. It was founded in the 13th c. and abandoned in the 19th. Now it is a "Byzantine Pompeii" with beautiful churches of which some have splendid wall paintings. St. Nicholas is located above the Monemvasia gate on the path from the palace to the Pantanassa monastery. What is surprising about this particular church is that despite its well preserved architecture and paintings, I can't get much information on it. My guidebook Mystras: The Medieval City and the Castle, written by Manolis Chatzidakis, who has been involved with the archaeological and conservation work at Mystras for decades, though excellent otherwise, only shows the church on the map and makes no further mention of it. An Internet search also yielded nothing but a few pictures. So, I am not sure when the church was built, what it's function may have been, and what is shown in the pictures (though obviously there is some kind of programme). If you happen to have any answers or even sources that relate to these questions, please let me know.
View of the apse. It's paintings have suffered significant damage.
Wall paintings probably showing a saint's vita including a prison scene at the center.
Painting on a column, perhaps of an Evangelist.
I'll try to add more pictures over the next few days.
These pictures were taken by the author of this blog on June 6, 2005. All rights are reserved. For profit use is strictly prohibited without explicit written permission. If you want to use these pictures for non-profit use, please credit them properly and let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment