At the neighborhood of the cathedral church and the metropolitan mansion in Kastoria, near Omonoia square, is one of the most important Byzantine monuments of the city, the church of Taxiarchis Mitropoleos, which is dedicated to archangel Michael.
The church was constructed in the 9th century over the ruins of an Early Christian basilica and it is possible, that it was a cemetery church. It is a small, three-aisled, barrel-vaulted basilica, with a narthex on the western side. The central aisle is covered by semi-circular barrel vault, is especially elevated and it has windows, something characteristic at Middle Byzantine basilicas in Kastoria. At the side aisles the barrel vaults have fallen and have been replaced with wooden roofs. Interventions were made on the northern section of the church, which had collapsed, resulting in the doubling of its width, while in 1937 they added two buttresses for its better support. The masonry is the characteristic one of the churches in Kastoria. It consists of stones in their natural size or carved, which are surrounded by plaster, framed with bricks horizontally and vertically, and alternate with groups of bricks that create decorative latters or geometric shapes.
At its interior, it is richly decorated with remarkable wall paintings. The older ones date from the beginning of the 10th century and there are fragments on the eastern walls of the three aisles and the narthex. The wall paintings of the second stratum, at the bema and the central aisle, took place in the period 1359-1360, when the church was renovated and icons were made from scratch. According to an inscription, that survives over the doorframe of the entrance, these works were carried out the period when the Bulgarian Simeon and his son John Ouresis Palaiologos were both kings. The wall paintings on the external western wall of the narthex, according to the relevant inscription but also the style of the representations, date from the second half of the 13th century.
At the southern aisle they keep in a reliquary the bones of Pavlos Melas, a fighter in the Greek struggle for Macedonia, and his wife Natalia.
The church celebrates on the 8th of November.
Informations
Contact phone:
Additional
Date:
9th century
Season:
Byzantine
Celebrates:
8 November
Holy Metropolis:
Kastoria
Under the Supervision of:
Ephorate of Antiquities of Kastoria
Address:
Omonoia 52100
Parking:
Free parking in the surrounding area.
