Church of Agios Dionysios

At a prominent place at the port of Zakynthos, at the district of Ammos, is the majestic church of the patron saint Agios Dionysios, the centre of the island’s religious life, together with the complex of the Monastery of Strofades, which was transferred here in 1717 from the islands with the same name.

The church was founded in 1708 and was completed in 1764. It was destroyed in 1893, by the great earthquake that devastated the island and was reconstructed after the initiative of a special committee that was established in 1900. It was founded in 1925 and its construction begun in 1931, according to the plans of the architect Anastasios Orlandos. It was inaugurated in 1948 and thanks to its anti-seismic construction it survived the earthquake of 1953. The majestic bell tower, approximately 40 meters high, was erected later, while in 2000 the new wing of the nearby monastery was inaugurated, which included modern facilities, the museum-sacristy and a workshop for the conservation of icons.

The church is a large three-aisled basilica with elevated the central aisle, which is supported by fourteen marble pillars with Corinthian capitals.

Its interior is decorated with important works of art. Its most important treasures are the silver reliquary where the sacred relic of the saint is kept, and the icons of the silver coated screen, all works of 1829 by George Diamantis Bafas , silversmith from Epirus. The reliquary is inside the so-called “room of the saint”, with the wooden-carved, gold plated coating.
The gold-plated, wooden carved screen and the wall paintings with scenes from the life of the saint, made by famous artists and wood-carvers, while one of the most famous works of art of the church is the famous painting with the procession of Agios Dionysios, work of 1766 by the priest Nikolaos Koutouzis.

At the museum of the monastery they keep works of art, sacred relics, manuscripts and rare editions that come from the monastery that was on the islands.

The church celebrates on the 24th of August (in memory of the translation of the saints’ relics) and on the 17th of December (day he died).