Album Medieval Murals from Martin M. Miles

Nomitsi - Metamorphosis Sotiros

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:44:00 +0000

The church of the Transfiguration of Christ is a cross-in-square domed church of the four-columned variant. At the east side of the building three apses are projecting.

The church is built with carved porous stones and bricks, according to the so called cloisonné system, typical in byzantine architecture of southern Greece. The exterior surfaces of the building are elaborated with rich brick decoration. The west façade of the church underwent an extensive reconstruction at the late 19th c., probably after an earthquake.

The oldest murals date from the 13th and 14th century.
Judas betraying Jesus by kissing him on the cheek

Nomitsi - Metamorphosis Sotiros

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:25:57 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Nomitsi - Metamorphosis Sotiros

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 19:42:00 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Nomitsi - Metamorphosis Sotiros

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 19:25:45 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Nomitsi - Metamorphosis Sotiros

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:51:46 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Koumani - Agioi Anargyroi

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 20:23:17 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

The initial form of the church of Agioi Anargyroi, in the settlement of Koumani dates back to the late 10th century, based mainly on some painting fragments preserved here.
The church assumed its current form in the 13th century, when it was modified into a single aisle domed cross-in-square. The modification is associated with the new tendencies after 1261, with Mystras playing the primary role in their development. Most of the church’s wall paintings date to the 13th century. An arched single-lobe bell tower of the same period rises above the entrance.

Koumani - Agioi Anargyroi

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:56:28 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Koumani - Agioi Anargyroi

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:39:23 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Lagkada - Metamorphosis Soteros

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 16:53:06 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

The Metamorfosi Sotiros (Transfiguration of Christ) Church in Lagkada is a domed church with four columns in the form of a square cross and dates back to the 14th century. The murals also date from this period.

Lagkada - Metamorphosis Soteros

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 16:41:31 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Lagkada - Metamorphosis Soteros

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 20:25:15 +0000

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Mystras - Hagia Sophia

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 21:20:02 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Mystras is a Byzantine ruined city near the village of the same name, northwest of Sparta.

The history of Mystras begins with the Fourth Crusade. When the Crusaders conquered the Peloponnese in 1206/1207, Godfrey I of Villehardouin became Prince of Achaea. His son, William II, conquered the rest of Laconia and in 1249 built a strong hilltop fortress in Mystras, which had previously been uninhabited.

In 1259, William II was captured by the troops of the Byzantine Emperor and secured his release by surrendering Mystras. The Greek inhabitants of Sparta, weary of Crusader rule, settled in Mystras, located just three kilometers away. A flourishing city grew up below the castle, eventually boasting a population of tens of thousands.
Mystras was conquered by the Ottomans in 1460. Minarets began to appear alongside churches and monasteries. The city came under Venetian control in 1687, but fell back to the Ottoman Turks as early as 1715.

In 1770, during a Russo-Turkish war, troops from the Balkans, who had invaded the Peloponnese on Ottoman orders, devastated the city. This marked the end of Mystras's heyday. During the Greek War of Independence, the city was subsequently so severely destroyed that plans for its reconstruction were abandoned. Instead, a short time later, Sparta, which had been abandoned centuries earlier, was rebuilt.

Mystras has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

Hagia Sophia was built in the 14th century by Manuel Kantakouzenos, the first despot of Mystras.

Built within the palace complex, it functioned as the royal palace church. The church became the catholicon of the men's monastery, as can be seen from the seal of the Patriarch Philotheus, from the year 1365, with which it was converted into a monastery at the request of the founder himself.

During Ottoman period, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque.

The Raising of Lazarus (?)

Mystras - Hagia Sophia

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 21:12:10 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Mystras - Hagia Sophia

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 21:03:09 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Mystras - Hagia Sophia

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 20:29:01 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Mystras - Hagia Sophia

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 20:07:38 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Mystras - Hodegetria

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:44:03 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Mystras is a Byzantine ruined city near the village of the same name, northwest of Sparta.

The history of Mystras begins with the Fourth Crusade. When the Crusaders conquered the Peloponnese in 1206/1207, Godfrey I of Villehardouin became Prince of Achaea. His son, William II, conquered the rest of Laconia and in 1249 built a strong hilltop fortress in Mystras, which had previously been uninhabited.

In 1259, William II was captured by the troops of the Byzantine Emperor and secured his release by surrendering Mystras. The Greek inhabitants of Sparta, weary of Crusader rule, settled in Mystras, located just three kilometers away. A flourishing city grew up below the castle, eventually boasting a population of tens of thousands.
Mystras was conquered by the Ottomans in 1460. Minarets began to appear alongside churches and monasteries. The city came under Venetian control in 1687, but fell back to the Ottoman Turks as early as 1715.

In 1770, during a Russo-Turkish war, troops from the Balkans, who had invaded the Peloponnese on Ottoman orders, devastated the city. This marked the end of Mystras's heyday. During the Greek War of Independence, the city was subsequently so severely destroyed that plans for its reconstruction were abandoned. Instead, a short time later, Sparta, which had been abandoned centuries earlier, was rebuilt.

Mystras has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

Brontochion Monastery was a very wealthy monastery, so soon after having completed Agioi Theodoroi (see pr. uploads) another church was constructed and completed around 1310/20. This church of the Hodegetria (aka Aphentikon) became the monastery's new katholikon.
It was probably built with the intention of creating a structure to rival the churches of Constantinople. It was constructed in the "Mistras style": a cross-in-square church structure was superimposed upon a three-aisled basilica with galleries. Unlike the other churches the Hodegetria features a three-story bell tower at its southwest corner.

During Ottoman rule, the monastery was converted into a mosque.

Mystras - Hodegetria

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:37:02 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Mystras is a Byzantine ruined city near the village of the same name, northwest of Sparta.

The history of Mystras begins with the Fourth Crusade. When the Crusaders conquered the Peloponnese in 1206/1207, Godfrey I of Villehardouin became Prince of Achaea. His son, William II, conquered the rest of Laconia and in 1249 built a strong hilltop fortress in Mystras, which had previously been uninhabited.

In 1259, William II was captured by the troops of the Byzantine Emperor and secured his release by surrendering Mystras. The Greek inhabitants of Sparta, weary of Crusader rule, settled in Mystras, located just three kilometers away. A flourishing city grew up below the castle, eventually boasting a population of tens of thousands.
Mystras was conquered by the Ottomans in 1460. Minarets began to appear alongside churches and monasteries. The city came under Venetian control in 1687, but fell back to the Ottoman Turks as early as 1715.

In 1770, during a Russo-Turkish war, troops from the Balkans, who had invaded the Peloponnese on Ottoman orders, devastated the city. This marked the end of Mystras's heyday. During the Greek War of Independence, the city was subsequently so severely destroyed that plans for its reconstruction were abandoned. Instead, a short time later, Sparta, which had been abandoned centuries earlier, was rebuilt.

Mystras has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

Brontochion Monastery was a very wealthy monastery, so soon after having completed Agioi Theodoroi (see pr. uploads) another church was constructed and completed around 1310/20. This church of the Hodegetria (aka Aphentikon) became the monastery's new katholikon.
It was probably built with the intention of creating a structure to rival the churches of Constantinople. It was constructed in the "Mistras style": a cross-in-square church structure was superimposed upon a three-aisled basilica with galleries. Unlike the other churches the Hodegetria features a three-story bell tower at its southwest corner.

During Ottoman rule, the monastery was converted into a mosque.

Mystras - Hodegetria

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:03:34 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Mystras is a Byzantine ruined city near the village of the same name, northwest of Sparta.

The history of Mystras begins with the Fourth Crusade. When the Crusaders conquered the Peloponnese in 1206/1207, Godfrey I of Villehardouin became Prince of Achaea. His son, William II, conquered the rest of Laconia and in 1249 built a strong hilltop fortress in Mystras, which had previously been uninhabited.

In 1259, William II was captured by the troops of the Byzantine Emperor and secured his release by surrendering Mystras. The Greek inhabitants of Sparta, weary of Crusader rule, settled in Mystras, located just three kilometers away. A flourishing city grew up below the castle, eventually boasting a population of tens of thousands.
Mystras was conquered by the Ottomans in 1460. Minarets began to appear alongside churches and monasteries. The city came under Venetian control in 1687, but fell back to the Ottoman Turks as early as 1715.

In 1770, during a Russo-Turkish war, troops from the Balkans, who had invaded the Peloponnese on Ottoman orders, devastated the city. This marked the end of Mystras's heyday. During the Greek War of Independence, the city was subsequently so severely destroyed that plans for its reconstruction were abandoned. Instead, a short time later, Sparta, which had been abandoned centuries earlier, was rebuilt.

Mystras has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

Brontochion Monastery was a very wealthy monastery, so soon after having completed Agioi Theodoroi (see pr. uploads) another church was constructed and completed around 1310/20. This church of the Hodegetria (aka Aphentikon) became the monastery's new katholikon.
It was probably built with the intention of creating a structure to rival the churches of Constantinople. It was constructed in the "Mistras style": a cross-in-square church structure was superimposed upon a three-aisled basilica with galleries. Unlike the other churches the Hodegetria features a three-story bell tower at its southwest corner.

During Ottoman rule, the monastery was converted into a mosque.

Mystras - Hagios Demetrios

nobody@ipernity.com (Martin M. Miles) — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 20:43:05 +0000

Martin M. Miles has posted:

Mystras is a Byzantine ruined city near the village of the same name, northwest of Sparta.

The history of Mystras begins with the Fourth Crusade. When the Crusaders conquered the Peloponnese in 1206/1207, Godfrey I of Villehardouin became Prince of Achaea. His son, William II, conquered the rest of Laconia and in 1249 built a strong hilltop fortress in Mystras, which had previously been uninhabited.

In 1259, William II was captured by the troops of the Byzantine Emperor and secured his release by surrendering Mystras. The Greek inhabitants of Sparta, weary of Crusader rule, settled in Mystras, located just three kilometers away. A flourishing city grew up below the castle, eventually boasting a population of tens of thousands.
Mystras was conquered by the Ottomans in 1460. Minarets began to appear alongside churches and monasteries. The city came under Venetian control in 1687, but fell back to the Ottoman Turks as early as 1715.

In 1770, during a Russo-Turkish war, troops from the Balkans, who had invaded the Peloponnese on Ottoman orders, devastated the city. This marked the end of Mystras's heyday. During the Greek War of Independence, the city was subsequently so severely destroyed that plans for its reconstruction were abandoned. Instead, a short time later, Sparta, which had been abandoned centuries earlier, was rebuilt.

Mystras has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

The Church of Hagios Demetrios, the earliest of the surviving churches of Mystras, is the metropolitan church, It is a wooden roofed basilica.

The church was founded between 1263 and 1272 by the Bishop Eugenios, whose tomb was discovered in the church. The paintings were commissioned by Bishop Theodosios and date to approximately 1272.
Inscriptions dedicate the structure to Nikiphoros, Metropolitan of Laconia, however, he was undoubtedly not the founder, he likely only commissioned the construction of the narthex around 1310.