Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Merbaka

At the entrance of the village of Agia Triada or Merbaka, at a distance of approximately 8 km from Nafplio, is the beautiful Byzantine church of the Dormition of the Virgin. It is known as Panagia at Merbaka, and has been related to the Latin archbishop of Corinth in the 13th century, Wilhem von Meerbeke, from whom the church and the whole church took its name.

The church was constructed in the first half of the 13th century. During the period of the Second Latin Occupation (1686-1715), while it was the metochi of the monastery of Agios Theodosios at Panariti, it was granted by the Venetian F. Morosini to the bishop of Rethymno Athanasios Hortatzis, who at that time was in the Peloponnese. In the period 1715-1770 Merbaka was the seat of the Metropolitan of Argos and Nafplio. From the years of the Turkish Occupation the village’s cemetery had started to develop around the church remained a cemetery one until 2000, when the cemetery was relocated and the area was reshaped in order to demonstrate the monument.

Architecturally the church belongs to the type of complex cross-in-square church, with an octagonal dome supported by four columns. On the east there are 3 three-sided arches, while in its interior, under the altar area, there is a burial crypt. Morphologically and stylistically it is characterized by the excellent ceramic decoration, mainly on the eastern side, and by the Gothic decorative elements. The walls are over a three-leveled crepidoma, they are built approximately up to their middle with large stones, and higher according to the cloisonné system of masonry of the Middle Byzantine period. Its masonry has incorporated ancient sculptures, while the sundial is characteristic and has been walled-in on the northern side, over the entrance.

At the interior of the church there is still the wall painting decoration, which belongs to three different periods of time. Older are the monochrome, abstract decorative elements. The wall paintings of the bema belong in the second stage and date from the year 1300. The rest of the wall paintings are more recent, from the year 1912.

The church celebrates on the 15th of August.