Limnakaro.
Kritsa.
CRETE
283
498. Aghios Nikolaos,
church of Aghios Nikolaos
(Άγιος Νικόλαος, ο
ομώνυμος ναός)
498. Aghios Nikolaos,
church of Aghios Nikolaos,
layers of painting (Άγιος
Νικόλαος, ο ομώνυμος
ναός, στρώματα
ζωγραφικής)
496. Mesa Kakkonia, Michael Archangel, wall painting (Μέσα Λακκώνια,
Μιχαήλ Αρχάγγελος, τοιχογραφία)
495.
Limnakaro.
Limnakaro is a minor plateau S of the Lassithi plateau. Aghios
Georgios village has as its sole structure the cross-vaulted
Aghio Pnevma church (Holy Spirit) (14th c.). In the 19th c. an
aisle was added to the N side. Wall-paintings from the early
14th c. have been discovered.
496.
Mesa Lakkonia.
In the small, barrel-vaulted church of Archangel Michael are
wall-paintings from 1431-2.
497.
Elounda.
Two three-aisled Early Christian basilicas have been detected
in Elounda. The first features a mosaic floor with an inscription
by the sponsor Theodoulos. The second, also with a mosaic
floor, includes a marble ambo platform with an engraved in-
scription by the sponsor Thomas the deacon.
499.
Kritsa
.
Panagia Kera is a large, three-aisled church with a domed
nave. Its form is a result of later additions of two aisles S and
N of the original church, roofed with semicircular barrel vaults
and a dome over the centre of the nave. The wall-painted dec-
498.
Aghios Nikolaos.
Saint Nicholas is the earliest example of an aisleless, domed
church in Crete, dating to the 9th c. It displays fragments of
aniconic decoration from the time of Iconoclasm and features
a cross in the conch, interlace ornaments in the E barrel vault,
geometric shapes on the side walls and vegetal motifs on the
base of the cylindrical dome drum. In the barrel-vaulted, sin-
gle-nave church of Panagia three layers of frescoes are pre-
served. The earliest is in the E section of the barrel vault and
includes evangelical depictions and scenes from the life of the
Virgin Mary, dating to 1300. In the conch the officiating prel-
ates belong to the early 14th c., while the evangelical scenes
in the W section of the barrel vault have been placed at the
end of the 14th c.
