Daphni Monastery.
Daphni Monastery.
CENTRAL GREECE
201
261. Daphni monastery, mosaic (Μονή Δαφνίου, ψηφιδωτό)
261. Daphni monastery, funerary church (Μονή Δαφνίου, κοιμητηριακός
ναός)
261. Daphni monastery, catholikon, reconstruction (Μονή Δαφνίου,
καθολικό (αναπαράσταση Ευ. Στίκα))
In the 12th c. an exonarthex was added, which underwent al-
terations during Frankish rule. Above the narthexes there was
another storey. The façades are distinctive in their refined cloi-
sonné masonry. In the interior, the marble revetments cover-
ing the vertical surfaces of walls have been destroyed, but the
mosaic decoration on upper surfaces survives, reflecting the
high-quality classical art of Constantinople, and are also dated
circa 1080.
According to one view, the cells date from the time of Frankish
rule, when Cistercian monks settled here, while others believe
they were built in the Ottoman period. The fortification wall dis-
plays many building phases, the first of which is considered to
be earlier than the catholicon, possibly of Justinian’s era. SE
of the complex there survives the monastery’s ruined funer-
ary church, in the crypt of which existed arcosolia for bone
deposits.
