Hagia Sophia
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | Byzantine Research Fund |
| Reference No. | BRF/02/01/13/041 |
| Level | Item |
| Place |
Andravida |
| Dates | 1905-1909 |
| Donor/Creator |
Traquair, Mr Ramsay |
| Scope and Content | North side. Further annotation in pencil survives at the back of the photograph. |
| Further information | Andravida, which is located at the very heart of the Morea plain, was the capital of the Frankish barony which was established in the region after the fall of Peloponnese to the Franks in the early 13th c. The church (Dominican cathedral) of Hagia Sophia at Andravida was the seat of the Frankish bishop of Olena. Two arched colonnades divide the interior into three aisles. Two side cross-vaulted chapels with impressive Gothic ribs and relief decoration were attached to the main square-shaped apse of the building. The arches and apses in both these chapels are of purely Gothic style. The church was a mosque during the Turkish period: the ruins of a Turkish minaret still survive at the north-west corner. Byzantine masonry was used only partly in the walling. The monument has been dated to the end of the 13th/beginning of the 14th c. |