Hagios Nikolaos, Platza

Department Archive
Collection Byzantine Research Fund
Reference No. BRF/02/01/14/066
Level Item
Place Mani
Dates 1909?
Donor/Creator Traquair, Mr Ramsay
Scope and Content North façade. The photograph is annotated in pencil at the back.
Further information The area in the middle of the Peloponnese, on the Laconia/Messinia border, was known as early as the 10th as the ‘Mani’. It was occupied by the Slavs in the early Medieval period and was christianised in the 10th c. by Hosios Nikon.
There are scores of Byzantine and post-Byzantine churches in the Mani: the first major phase of building activity in the region seems to run from the late 10th to the later 12th c.

The small church of Hagios Nikolaos at Platsa is noticeable for its length. The east end terminates in a single apse, the dome is octagonal. All roofs are tile-covered while the angle compartments are covered by half barrel-vaults. The masonry is of very poor quality mainly of stones with a few bricks. According to R. Traquair, this is probably a late 15th/early 16th c. building.