The Church of Christos Elkomenos
This is the largest church of the lower town. Its name derives from an icon located in the church until the end of the twelfth century. It was considered so sacred and prescious that the Byzantine Emperor, Isaac II (Angelus Comnenus), had it stolen from Monemvasia to decorate the church of Archangel Michael "En Anaplo", outside of Constantinople.
The traditional dating of the church, based largely on the dating of the marble ornamentation holds that the first structure on this location goes back approximately to the year 1000. Two old marble parts are still extant: Over the present entrance (see plate 17) there is the parapet slab of an iconostasis that shows two peacocks with tails fully spread. In their clutches they hold a snake; between them lies a cow's head. The relief was first affixed above the door in the nineteenth century. The decorated door lintel also dates from about 1000, probably from the first church. For a more exact dating we should actually use only the stone pews in the central apse, behind the altar. They are no doubt still in their original location, and probably date from the first church, for they would have been much more difficult to transport than the lighter marble pieces. An antique marble beam, built in between the Byzantine lintel and the entrance door, gives the date for the renovation of the church, 1697. Two pilasters with beautiful Corinthian capitals support this stone beam.
Much destruction and reconstruction both preceded and followed the Venetian renovation of 1697. The earliest changes to the structure date from the twelfth century; still more changes were made in the fourteenth century. After the destruction of 1690 the Venetian rebuilt the church, and they added the architectural elements that give the structure its appearance today. The Turks badly damaged the church as a punishment for the Greek rebels who joined the Albanians in the Orlov Revolt of 1770. The edifice was not restored until after the liberation. Then, the style of Venetian ecclesiastical architecture was not altered by the restoration. For this reason, the church today shows rather strong western influences.
Like the cathedral of St. Mark's in Venice, several steps lead into the narthex. In the church itself rows of pillars separate a wide nave from two side aisles. The barrel vaults of the nave and aisles, and the arches between the pillars are of the pointed Italo Byzantine type. The elongated area of the church gives the effect of a basilica, even though at the midpoint of the nave a cupola rises up, resting on an octagon and a square. Heavy buttresses along the exterior reinforce the eastern part of the south wall. The western part adjoins a vaulted passage of the espiscopal residence. The passage is just a few steps down from the church square, and connects the square to the lower part of the town. The pediment of the nave projects high over the narthex, and ends with Renaissance scrolls at the eaves. A beautiful ridge ornament follows the ridge of the roof. It is modeled on an antique acroterium, and is neoclassical in origin.
Stepping from the narthex into the church we find two thrones within the central nave to the left and to the right of the entrance. Their location and the stone semicircles at their base indicate that they are of Byzantine origin. Their present appearance, however, makes them look like they date from after the liberation. The ornamentation on the thrones is painted plaster of Paris. Other wooden thrones, typically found in churches, are for bishops and metropolitans when they are present at divine services. These thrones, however, were for secular dignitaries, although we do not know for whom they were set up. Most people assume that they were reserved for the Palaeologian emperors and their wives, although they very seldom visited Monem-vasia. It is unlikely that they were reserved for the leading patrician families of Monemvasia during the Palaeologian period, for there were three such families, and the two thrones would have been insufficient. Popular legend holds that the thrones were constructed for the first king of Greece, Otto of Wittelsbach, and for his queen Amalie.
The shrine for an icon stands in the entrance area of the church. Mother of pearl intarsia covers it; the craftsmanship of this shrine suggests a Turkish model.
Sad to say, quite a number of icons decorating the interior of the church were stolen years ago. The thieves and their loot were caught in Athens. Since then Monemvasia argued many years with government officials to get back the icons, especially the largest and most beautiful of these, a fourteenth-century crucifixion icon. The Monemvasiotes finally succeeded.
The figure of Christ, with sorrowful, lowered head, is remarkable both in its conception and execution. In the group to the right there is a man wearing a golden garment beneath his blue cloak, and looking very much like a Venetian doge. Thus the icon reflects the Venetian character of the whole church. The blessed virgin, known in Greek as panagia, is on the left, wearing a blue cloak. Her sorrowful appearance is totally derived from the artistic style of the eastern church. Nevertheless, authorities assume that an early Venetian school of painters influenced the painting of the icon. Scholars attribute another icon from the nearby village of Hagios Nicholaos to the same artist.
Between Christos Elkomenos and the main street there is a courtyard. On the outside north wall of the narthex, just above the door towards that courtyard, there is a beautiful relief carved in limestone. It shows a dove with an olive branch in its beak. The plasticity of the form suggests that it dates from Monemvasia's second Venetian period. The subject matter may show a popular desire for peace after long warfare. Since the door in the north wall of the narthex as well as the small gate from the courtyard to the church square between Christos Elkomenos and the main street are normally locked, we can view this carved limestone only when one of these doors happens to be open.