Church of Agios Georgios

At the village of Omorphokklisia, approximately 20km southwest of the city of Kastoria, is the church of Agios Georgios, one of the most well-known and beautiful Byzantine monuments of Macedonia. From this beautiful church the village also took its name, which was initially called Kallista or Galista (“kallisti” in Greek means the most beautiful), as it is mentioned for the first time in a codex of the Metropolis of Kastoria in 1684.

The church was initially built in the 11th century, as indicated by its architecture. In 1306/7 or in 1316/17, the building was repaired and the exonarthex was painted. The inscription on the western wall of the narthex seem to refer to these works, while they also mention the names of the brothers Andronikos, Nikephoros and Ioannis from the family of Netzades, who were probably the founders of the nearby Monastery of Tsoukas, at the village of Agia Anna. The same inscription also mentions that the church was built in 1286/7 and the co-emperors Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1328) and his son, Michael IX Palaiologos (†1320), as well as their wives, Irene Montferrat (approximately 1285-1317) and Maria of Armenia respectively. However, the research demonstrated that the date 1286/7 is not correct, because the inscription has been painted over and the date has been altered, while it is known that Michael was crowned emperor in 1294 and married Maria in 1295.

At its initial form, it was a cross-in-square church, with a dome supported by two columns. On the east there was a three-sided arch and on the west a bell tower. Later, probably on the 13th century, they added the exonarthex and adjacent buildings on the northern and southern side, which on the east end in chapels and initially must have had the form of an open portico. At its largest part the church is built according to the cloisonné system of masonry and has rich ceramic decoration. Its interior is decorated with wall paintings which belong to different stages. The icons of the initial church, of the narthex and the floor  of the bell tower date from the end of the 13th century, the icons of the exonarthex date from the beginning of the 14th century, and the external wall paintings date from the period 1365-1385. Of particular importance is the unique wooden-carved, miraculous icon of Agios Georgios, with the impressive height which reaches approximately 3 m. Its origin is related to various traditions, and is characteristic that the believers place coins on it, and if they get stuck on it, they believe that their wishes will be fulfilled.

The church celebrates on the day of Agios Georgios, on the 23rd of April of on Bright Monday.