Cythera.
Cythera.
PELOPONNESE
230
323. Cythera,
Saint Nicholas at
Molingates, wall
painting (Κύθηρα,
Άγιος Νικόλαος
στους Μολιγκάτες,
τοιχογραφία)
323. Cythera,
Aghios Andreas
at Livadi, wall
painting (Κύθηρα,
Άγιος Ανδρέας
στο Λιβάδι,
τοιχογραφία)
planning but mostly with particularly harmonious results. Usu-
ally, they are barrel-vaulted, single-nave churches, in many
cases twin churches, and there is one quadruple. They are
often double-apsed. A special type of church prevails on Cy-
thera and has been named after it: the barrel-vaulted, single-
nave church of Cytherean type, with high, shallow squinches
at the corners. Four cross-in-square churches of transitional
type also survive. Characteristic of all 37 churches are the suc-
cessive layers of wall-paintings and the isolated scenes (68
wall-painting phases in total). From the first Byzantine years
the apse survives of the originally three-aisled church of Aghi-
os Panteleimon at Palaiopolis (11), near the sea (7th c.). The
mosaic floor (6th c.) of Saint John’s at Potamos (1) is still ex-
mos. Today, the best-preserved fortified Byzantine city is Pal-
aiochora (2) – perhaps the fortress of Aghios Demetrios, which
was probably established by the Eudaimonogiannis family in
the 13th c. The two remaining fortresses survive in quite good
condition. The one at Chora is the earliest, outside of which is
the Mesa Vourgo settlement (18). It is very likely that it was set
on an earlier Byzantine fortress, while its current form dates
from Venetian rule (1503), similarly to that at Mylopotamos
(13). The other, which bears the Venetian emblem, the Lion
of Saint Mark, at its entrance developed significantly after the
destruction of Palaiochora.
There are 53 Byzantine churches, 37 of which feature wall-
paintings. Their architectural types are simple, without initial
323. Cythera, Aghios Georgios at Lourandianika, wall painting (Κύθηρα,
Άγιος Γεώργιος στα Λουραντιάνικα, τοιχογραφία)
