13-28

The Exonarthex of the Katholikon of St. Luke in Phocis (pl. 3-14)

Articles

• Μπούρα, Λασκαρίνα
• ΦΙΛΙΠΠΙΔΟΥ - ΜΠΟΥΡΑ, Λασκαρίνα

The exonarthex of the katholikon of St. Luke was removed by the monksat the end of the 19th century. During the same years the monks reconstructed the small octagonal church (1888 according to inscription) turning it intoa bell tower and in doing so, used at least some of the material brought downfrom the exonarthex, as the door posts and the door lintel built in thefirst floor opening of the south façade (pi. 13). The four columns placedin the last floor openings of the bell tower appear to have come from theexonarthex also, belonging originally to the grouped windows of the westfaçade.Two unpublished drawings by E. Ziller (pi. 3), a precious picture published by O. Wulff (pi. 5, fig. 1), the sketch of Barskij (pi. 4, fig. 2), on siteobservation, and the descriptions of Ch. Diehl and G. Kremos, permit acomplete restoration of the lost monument (fig. 1, 2, 3) which could nothave been erected in 1582, as was believed until now. The shape and sizeof the fine grouped windows, as well as those of the central door, thetympanum filling, the carefully executed cloisonné masonry with the doubleand triple horizontal tiles, suggest that the erection of the monument musthave taken place at a date within the limits of the twelfth century. Theornamentation of the door posts and lintel (pi. 13), as well as remains ofthe inner decoration (pi. 7), make the suggested dating even more probable.Careful observation of the west façade of the katholikon, for possibletraces of the exonarthex offer some new information about the katholikonitself:a. Similarities in the construction of the vault above the central doorwith the one of the south basement opening of the bell tower, make probable the suggested contemporary erection of the two monuments.b. The front elevation masonry of the katholikon is being marked bya final treatment. At places, a layer of mortar has been added to even thedifferences of the rough material. On that mortar survive several foliatedpseudo-cufic characters in fresco, single (pi. 9), or grouped in the formof inscriptions (pi. 8), which consist an obvious imitation of the pseudo-cuficdecorations of the Panagia Church.c. The soffit of the double windows of the upper storey appear to havebeen decorated with frescoes, just as the tympanum of the double windowsof the basement. The remains of these frescoes prove to belong to thefigures of two prophets, Elias and David.

• History and Archaeology
• Arts

• Archaeology and religion
• Ιστορία

• http://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/deltion/article/view/4503
• http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/dchae.806