Ο Άι-Στράτηγος στο Μαριόρεμα
Part of : Δελτίον της Χριστιανικής Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας ; Vol.35, 1994, pages 223-230
Issue:
Pages:
223-230
Parallel Title:
The Chapel of Aï-Strategos at Mariorema
Section Title:
Articles
Abstract:
At the Mariorema site in the vicinity of the Lakoniantown of Geraki there exists a cave which has been transformed into a place of worship, known as Asketario.The monument is two-storied, each storey having anindependent entrance. The cave is blocked up by a wall8.10 m high (Fig. 1). The chapel is located on the secondfloor. Its timber floor is 2.50 m wide. The windowsresemble indentations on battlements, similar to thosein the hermitage of Αϊ-Yannis in the village of Tzintzina(mid-14th century) and on the Palataki at Mystras (endof the 14th century). At Mariorema, the apse, which hasbeen cut into the wall, appears on the exterior at theNW corner. The templon is built with masonry. Thechapel preserves wall-paintings: the conch of the apsebears a Platytera (Fig. 3) in the type influenced by theNikopoios (Winner of Victories), and further down theMelismos with two Angels (Figs 5 and 6). The southwall contains the Co-officiating Hierarchs Basil andJohn Chrysostom (Fig. 7). The intrados in the prothesis,in the form of a blind arch, contains a bust of the deacon Saint Stephen (Fig. 8). Further to the right of theapse we find the post-Byzantine wall-painting of SaintJohn the Forerunner (Figs 9, 10, 11). The ground of thePlatytera includes a dateless donor inscription, mentioning a ktetor, the hieromonk Ignatios Andronas fromLarnaka.The faces of the Angels in the Melismos are reminiscentof portraits in the church of the Archangels at Lesnovo(1349); Chrysostom has a broad face, similar to theSaints in the second layer of the church of the Taxiarchof the Metropolis at Kastoria (1359-1360). The morepopularising Byzantine wall-paintings of the hermitageat Geraki should be attributed to the sixth decade of the14th century.The painting of the Forerunner, reminiscent of a depiction of the same saint in the Stavronikita monastery onMt. Athos, may in this author's opinion, be considereda work of the 16th century.
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