AGHIA KYRIAKI CHURCH
Rare iconoclastic church with aniconic decoration offering a view on the bay of Moutsouna.
If the janitor isn't there, a door at the rear under the narthex (porch) normally gives access to a stone passageway leading to the nave. It has to be earned! Little-known to visitors, this dry-stone church dedicated to Saint Cyriacus (Aghia Kyriaki, Αγία Κυριακή) is indeed one of the few well-preserved "iconoclastic" churches in the Balkans, i.e. whose frescoes do not include human representations. It was built at the end of the icon quarrel that shook the Byzantine Empire from 723 to 843. It was built by iconoclasts (which literally means "image breakers"). They rejected all representations of Christ and the saints, seeing icons as idolatry. The apse features six birds wearing ribbons around their necks, combined with small crosses flanked by palm trees. Other motifs include chevrons, repeated circles, squares and floral motifs. This original decoration has survived almost intact to the present day, protected as it was by a later layer of plaster and painted decoration, with 12th-century figurative decoration in the absidiole. Thanks in part to the Swiss Hagia Kyriaki association, restoration work began in 2013. The walk to the church, via the church of Aghios Ioannis, offers a bird's-eye view of the bay of Moutsouna, the small archipelago of Makares and the island of Donoussa.
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