Church of Pammegistoi Taxiarches

The Byzantine temple of the Grand Taxiarches Michael and Gabriel is located on the hill above the traditional settlement of Ano Taxiarches, at a distance of 15 km from Zacharo Ilia. South of the church there is a stone threshing floor, while nearby there is a second Byzantine church, Agios Andreas.

Architecturally, the temple belongs to the single-aisled cruciform type inscribed with a dome and ends in a three-sided arch to the east. The monument does not contain an inscription with the exact date of its construction, however the church is mentioned in the record of church property in the period 1697 – 1700. The scholars of the church place its dating at the end of the 13th century. until the first decades of the 14th century.

Inside the church, the built Holy Bench is preserved, while in the northeast there is a stone slab for the use of intention. No parts of the mural decoration or the iconostasis are preserved. It is noteworthy that at the base of the spherical triangles of the dome, the mouths of sound vessels can be seen, a technique that the Byzantines used to use in the construction of temples for better acoustics. The floor is paved with black and white square tiles reminiscent of a chessboard, while in the center there is a display of colorful floral motifs.

Over time, due to weather and human interventions, the monument began to deteriorate. According to the testimonies of the residents, in the first decades of the 20th century. various operations were carried out in the temple: clearing the roof of the trees causing damage to the masonry, changing the floor with new tiles, changing the roof of the dome with concrete, trying to repair the masonry, etc. Since 2011, the 6th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities started small restoration works on the monument, while in 2019 the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia completed the work of fixing and highlighting the church.

Copyediting:

Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia