Panayia Parigoritissa
The church of the Panayia Parigoritissa, dedicated to the Annunciation, was built at the end of the 13th century by the despot of Epirus Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas and his wife Anna Palaiologina. It was formerly the Katholikon of a large monastery, of which 16 cells and the Refectory are also preserved
The Katholikon has dimensions of 20.30×22 m and was built following a fairly original model. On the ground floor its plan is similar to that of octagon type churches, while at first-floor it follows the type of the cross-in-square church. The nave is square and has no internal supports.
The distinctive feature of the church is the manner in which the dome is supported, which does not seem to have been used in other Byzantine monuments, as far as we know. The dome rests on eight pilasters, on which stand three rows of columns, leaving the interior space undisturbed.
At ground-floor level, the church is flanked on the north and south sides by chapels (of the Taxiarchs and St John the Baptist), which communicate with the narthex at the west, creating the appearance of a peristyle arrangement.
The gynaikonitis on the first floor (not open to the public) has a similar arrangement.
Five apses project on the east side of the church, which is adorned with decorative brickwork in several motifs. Maeanders, crosses, and lozenges, combined with blind arcading, phialostomia and stone plaques, lend the monument an impressive polychrome appearance.
The church of the Parigoritissa was built on the site of an earlier church of smaller dimensions, parts of which are still visible on the north side of the nave. The walls of the Parigoritissa are now adorned with wall-paintings dating from a variety of periods. They originally had luxurious marble revetment, a few fragments of which are preserved above the main entrance on the west side.
On this same side there is an arch with elaborate relief decoration and an inscription mentioning the founders of the church, Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas, his wife Anna Palaiologina and their son Thomas.The mosaic depictions of the Pantokrator and the Prophets adorning the main dome are contemporary with the monument. They were probably executed by two teams of craftsmen, who are believed to have come from Constantinople or Thessaloniki. There was sculptural decoration at the base of the dome, on the large arches of the barrel-vaulting. All that survives today are the groups of the Nativity and the Agnus Dei, flanked by figures of Evangelists and Prophets.
The subjects of the sculptures and the technique in which they were executed clearly reveal western influences, and they are believed to have been created by craftsmen from the West (possibly from neighbouring Italy).The wall-paintings in the Sanctuary were made by the monk Ananias and date from 1558. Those in the nave were probably executed in the late 17th or early 18th century, while the paintings in the narthex are even later.
The Refectory is to the south-east of the Katholikon. It is a rectangular, barrel-vaulted building, whose present form is the result of restoration work carried out by A. Orlandos. It now houses part of the sculptural collection which was kept in Parigoritissa and comes from Arta and its wider area.
To the west of the Refectory have been located the ruins of a row of cells that originally stood here. The 16 cells preserved on the east side are now used by the Archaeological Service.
Nowadays, the church functions as a museumm, along with the nearby Glyptothek.
Gallery
Information
- www.efaart.gr
- +30 26810 28692
- efaart@culture.gr
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