Holy Monastery of Panagia Mavriotissa
About 4 km from the centre of Kastoria, on the lakeshore, lies the historic Monastery of Panagia Mavriotissa, one of the most important Byzantine monuments in West Macedonia. Originally known as the Mesonisiotissa Monastery, it was founded in the 11th century and dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos, before acquiring its present name in the 17th century, most likely from the nearby lakeside village of Mavrovo. Visiting the monastery, you will admire its katholikon, a single-aisled, timber-roofed basilica with a semicircular apse and a spacious narthex, where frescoes from different periods reveal the artistic journey of the monument through the centuries. Look closely at the exterior depiction of the “Root of Jesse”, one of the oldest surviving representations of this subject, as well as the two imperial portraits believed to portray Alexios I Komnenos and Michael VIII Palaiologos.
A few centuries later, in the 16th century, the chapel of Agios Ioannis the Theologian was added, enriching the monastery’s artistic heritage. Its interior and exterior frescoes, dated to 1552 and attributed to Efstathios Iakovou, priest and protonotary of Arta, impress with their vivid colours and detailed narrative scenes. Episodes from the life of Christ, miracles, and temptations unfold across three zones, while outside, the striking depiction of Agios Sisois before the tomb of Alexander the Great immediately captures attention— a theme that became increasingly common in iconography from the 15th century onwards.
