Hagios Nikolaos tou Likiniou
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | Byzantine Research Fund |
| Reference No. | BRF/02/01/14/114 |
| Level | Item |
| Place |
Monemvasia |
| Dates | 1888-1890 |
| Donor/Creator |
Weir Schultz, Mr Robert Barnsley, Mr Sidney Howard |
| Scope and Content | West façade. The photograph is annotated in pencil at the back. |
| Further information | Monemvasia is built on a steep rock rising majestically from the sea a short distance from the most south-eastern extremity of the Peloponnese. Naturally fortified and in a strategic position (its name is translated as: ‘only one entrance’) it was inhabited as early as the 6th c. and reached its peak in the 14th c. Combined forces of the Franks and the Venetians besieged Monemvasia in 1246 while in 1262 it returned to Byzantine hands. Under Andronikos II it became the seat of the tenth bishopric of the Byzantine empire. After a short period of independence, having seen off Sultan Mehmed in 1460 and enjoying the protection of Pope Pius II for three years, it was conquered alternately by the Venetians and the Turks. Hagios Nikolaos tou Likiniou is a most representative example of church architecture during the second period of the Frankish occupation in Monemvasia. The building, which is of the typical middle-Byzantine cross-in-square plan, displays an interesting combination of strong Gothic and manieristic elements: the pointed west gable which is decorated with a rosette and the interior rib-vaults point towards Gothic architecture while the west façade is typical of the seventeenth-century Italian building tradition. According to the dedicatory inscription above the entrance, the church was erected by the local noble Andreas Likinios in 1703. |