Church of Agion Pateron

Among the multistoried old buildings, in the heart of the traditional city of Corfu, at the district of Agioi Pateres is the church with the same name which houses the Ecclesiastical Museum of the Metropolis.

It dates from the 15th century, in the period of the Venice occupation of the island. The oldest well known reference to it in the sources goes back to 1498, when its owner in her will left it to the Sacred Order of the priests of the city and to the trustees (representatives of the council of the community of Corfu). With its administration and operation are related a lot of well-known names of the society of Corfu, who are mentioned in relevant documents, while in the 17th century it seems that it had in its possession a lot of buildings in the city and the countryside of Corfu. In 1768 it was reconstructed completely, as we are informed by the inscription over its entrance. It was destroyed by a bombardment from German airplanes in 1943 and then all its wooden elements burned down and only the external stone walls remained, but it was restored completely in the 1990s with the responsibility of the Metropolis.

Externally the church resembles a Venetian monument very much like the late baroque monuments of Venice. It assumed this form with the reconstruction in 1768, when its façade consisted of three parts and its roof became taller. Then they constructed the wooden carved screen and the interior was decorated with wall paintings, without a complete program, but with isolated representations in the conches of the altar area and the side walls, as it was used in that time. From the portable icons remarkable are the ones that depict the Prophets and are characteristic examples of Venetian style. Of particular interest is the stone floor the only one that has survived in its total.

The church is dedicated to the 318 Father of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and it celebrates 42 days after Easter, but it is honored also in the name of Agios Arsenios.