Leros.
Leros.
THE ISLANDS
394
601. Leros, basilica at Partheni, mosaic (Λέρος, βασιλική στο Παρθένι,
ψηφιδωτό)
601. Leros, Lakki, Saint John Theologos (Λέρος, Λακκί, Άγιος Ιωάννης ο
Θεολόγος)
601. Leros, Lakki, Saint John Theologos, wall painting (Λέρος, Λακκί,
Άγιος Ιωάννης ο Θεολόγος, τοιχογραφία)
There is no archaeological evidence from the 7th to the 10th
c., as it was a period when, due to Arab raids, coastal settle-
ments were deserted and castles were built.
According to documents kept in the archive of Saint John
Theologos’ monastery on Patmos, Leros was associated
with it from 1087 to 1263, as the monastery possessed two
metochia at Partheni and at Temenia of Leros. The metochia
were donated to Hosios Christodoulos by Emperor Alexius I
Comnenus in 1087, according to a chrysobull. A representa-
tive monument of this period in terms of architecture and
wall-paintings is Saint John Theologos at Lakki (6), a domed,
three-aisled basilica with building phases dating from the 10th
c., and surviving frescoes from the 13th c. Other churches
with wall-paintings from the period of the Knights Hospitaller’s
rule (they conquered and fortified Leros in 1309) are Panagia
Gourlomata (1368) and Saint Peter at Drymonas (4), Aghios
Zacharias at Merikia (5) and more. Western travellers visited
the island from the early 12th c. (1102-3), throughout the
Knights’ and Ottoman (from 1522) domination.
The fortresses at Panteli (3) and at Lepides, also called Pal-
aiokastro (8), survive on Leros. The first, towering over the
villages of Aghia Marina and Platanos, features three enclo-
sures, two Byzantine and one 15th c., and five churches dat-
ing from the Knights’ rule. The second fortress, at Xerokam-
pos Bay is ruined; it was built in the Hellenistic period, but was
in use until the 11th c., as attested to by Alexius Comnenus’
chrysobull. In fact, it was donated to the island’s inhabitants
by order of Anna Dalassene (mother of Alexius), when they
were forced to abandon the fortress at Panteli.
