Kapistri.
Mesa Mouliana.
CRETE
288
505. Episkopi of Hierapetra, Saint George (Επισκοπή Ιεράπετρας,
Άγιος Γεώργιος)
504.
Kapistri.
The single-nave church of Saint George features wall-painted
decoration in provincial style dating from the 14th c. It includes
episodes from the life of the honoured saint.
505.
Hierapetra.
The city of Hierapetra has been documented since antiquity,
but prospered mainly in the Roman period. In the early Chris-
tian years, a bishop of Hierapytna was first mentioned at the
Synod of Sardica in 342. It was later reported as a diocese of
Hiera and finally as a diocese of Hiera and Siteia. The city was
probably destroyed by the Arabs circa 828, but still existed in
subsequent years. The low wall detected at the W boundaries
of the city, near the site of the Roman
“Naumachia”
, dates
from the years before the liberation of Crete (961). Other re-
mains of the same period survive S of the church of Christ in
the coastal area. The see was transferred to Episkopi after 961.
In the early 20th c. the major Mid-Byzantine church of Pana-
gia Eftatrouli had survived at Episkopi but was demolished
just before G. Gerola’s visit so that a modern church would
be built. From the episcopal complex all that is left today is
the small, domed bath (11th c.). The cathedral was converted
into a church of Saint George during the Venetian occupation.
Then, in the 16th c. the barrel-vaulted, single-nave church of
Aghios Charalambos was added to the S section.
506.
Mesokastela.
Fortresses are on two out of four hills near the village of Ka-
lamafka at Hierapetra and surround a fertile area. The two nat-
urally fortified hills are reinforced with walls. The first is smaller,
while the second surrounds a Byzantine settlement with vis-
ible remains and cisterns. The fortresses have been built near
the main road from Merambelos in the N of Lassithi to the
coast of Myrtos at Hierapetra, and control wide sections of the
S coast, of the Isthmus of Hierapetra and part of the N coast.
507.
Kavousi.
Saint George is a small, barrel-vaulted church with the addi-
tion of a later transverse narthex. In the interior it is totally cov-
ered with numerous evangelical scenes, the life of the saint
and the Second Coming. The small church of Panagia, at the
cemetery, displays scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary in
the barrel vault, instead of the evangelical cycle; they are dat-
ed from the early 15th c.
508
. Sphaka.
At Sphaka is the small, barrel-vaulted, single-nave church of
Panagia, with remnants of folk-style frescoes of the 14th c.
509.
Mesa Mouliana.
The three-aisled, barrel-vaulted church of Aghia Triada pre-
serves a few remains of frescoes in the apse of the nave.
509. Mesa Mouliana, Aghia
Triada (Μέσα Μουλιανά,
Αγία Τριάδα)
