Taxiarches, Charouda
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | Byzantine Research Fund |
| Reference No. | BRF/02/01/14/090 |
| Level | Item |
| Place |
Mani |
| Dates | 1909? |
| Donor/Creator |
Traquair, Mr Ramsay |
| Scope and Content | View of the interior looking west-east. 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 c. as the ‘Mani’. It was occupied by the Slavs in the early Medieval period and was christianised in the 10th c. by Hossios 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 imposing church of the Taxiarches at Charouda is an inscribed, four-columned, cross-in-square building with narthex which was separated from the naos by a wall that was later removed. The three apses are hexagonal while the door on the south side is a later insertion. Only the corbels remain from the porch which was attached to the west. The masonry is of two types: the lower parts of the walls are built of large marble slabs, a fine, carefully-laid cloisonné was used in the upper courses above a brick-dentil podium. Brickwork arches, glazed ceramic bowls and brick-dentil courses enliven the walling. The two lavish carved marble epistyle-fragments which have been used as lintel and door step in the west door have been dated to the 12th c. and must have been imported. Extensive frescoes of the 14th c. and later decorate the interior. |