The Church of the Parigoritissa in Arta, Greece, was founded around 1250 by Michael II Komnenos Doukas, Despot of Epirus, or possibly someone in his court. Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas and his second wife, Anna Kantakouzene, restored it in 1290. It is first attested as a female convent in 1578.
It is a Byzantine church of the octagonal type, a large, almost square three-story building. A central dome rests on eight piers in three tiers, with four smaller corner domes and a lantern. Marble covers the walls up to the galleries, with mosaics and frescoes above. The dome mosaic shows Christ Pantokrator surrounded by angels and 12 prophets.
Its sculpture shows Western influences, including Romanesque monsters. It later became bankrupt and was made a dependency of another monastery. Today it partly houses the Archaeological Collection of Arta.
Comments