Holy Monastery of Panagia Chrysopigi

The Holy Monastery of Panagia Chrysopigi, better known as Ano Moni, is located northeast of Divri, today's Lampia, in the Municipality of Ancient Olympia.

The monastery is surrounded by a Π-shaped enclosure, where there are wings with auxiliary buildings. The wings on the north and west sides are two stories, unlike the east side where it is on the ground floor. The dining room, kitchen and storage areas are located on the ground floor, while the monks' cells and guest houses are located on the first floor.

The temple has been built on the south side of the courtyard. It is a single room vaulted hall, with a three-sided arch to the east and a narthex to the west. Around the church there are four chapels, with the entrance of the Saints Kirikos and Ioulitis chapel, located in the narthex.

The interior is decorated with frescoes from 1667, as stated in the foundational inscription on the main entrance, in which it is stated that the financing of the icon painting was done by the lord Zafeiris from the village of Peta. Perhaps the construction of the temple took place in the same year.

The frescoe decoration of the temple is preserved almost intact. The depictions of the main church concern scenes such as the expanded Life of Christ and the cycle of the divine passion, full-bodied saints and prophets, the Virgin as the Life-Giving Source and the martyrdom of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, while in the dome is the Pantocrator surrounded by angels, the Virgin and the evangelists.

In the sanctuary, the depictions include prophets, scenes from the Virgin Mary and the Eucharistic cycle, and in the apse the Infant Virgin Mary with the Society of the Apostles and full-length hierarchs. The frescoes of the narthex are later ones, as well as the built altarpiece with painted decoration and wood-carved lining, which dates from 1845.

Copyediting

Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia