Dekoulos Monastery, Itylo
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | Byzantine Research Fund |
| Reference No. | BRF/02/01/14/084 |
| Level | Item |
| Place |
Mani |
| Dates | 1909? |
| Donor/Creator |
Traquair, Mr Ramsay |
| Scope and Content | Fresco on the west wall (the Last Judgement). 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 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 church of the Dekoulos monastery at Itylo (dedicated to the Zoodochos Pege, Hagios Nikolaos and Hagios Panteleemon) is of the domed cell type. Strong pilasters supporting a wall arcade divide the building into three bays. The east end terminates at three semicircular apses. The church is very badly lit: although the dome is tall, it is decorated with a blind arcade with no windows at all. An extensive fresco programme still remains in the interior. According to a dedicatory inscription painted on the plaster above the door, the monastery was built in 1765 by members of the Dekoulos family. |