The Holy Church of Saint John the Baptist in Makrinitsa
The Holy Church of Saint John the Baptist in the Central Square of Makrinitsa, according to built-in on its sides engraved and embossed inscriptions, was built in 1806 on the place of an older chapel, "with the residents' assistance, by the chiefs' decision, on the expense of the many".
The small single-space dromic church (6,00 x 8,50 m.), of harmonic proportions and elaborate masonry, has a high-stem seven sided apse in the east, attic (gynekonite) in the west and arched column-supported gallery (hagiati) along its south and west sides. It is covered with a two-pitched tiled roof, that its wooden carrier replaced in the inside of the church the roof's original dome work which fell down during the 1955 earthquakes.
The rich sculpted decoration of the monument (arch, around the doors decorative works, pillars, embossed plates and inscriptions), work by the famous stone sculptor Theodosios from Vraha of Agrafa (1806), is distinguished for its technical excellence, its thematic variety and its popular artistic expression.
The austere wood sculpted temple with its carefully constructed gate doors to the sanctum dates from around the mid - 19th century. The icons of Christ (1826) and of Virgin Mary holding Baby Jesus in the Temple are signed works of Athonite painter Iakovos, while those of Archangel Michael (1852) and of the Gathering of Archangels (1856) are signed by painter Pantazis. The fresco of impressive proportions portraying Saint John the Baptist with representations of his life, on the north wall of the church, was created around 1958, during the renovation of the monument, following its destruction by the 1955 earthquakes. The surviving outside frescos above the west and south entrances are placed at the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th.
Architectural and inscriptural elements, stone sculpted presentations and motifs, icons and frescos, render the Holy Church of Saint John the Baptist "one of the most gracious ecclesiastical monuments" of Pelion in the modern era.
Ιερός Ναός Τιμίου Προδρόμου - Holy Church of Saint Ioannis the Baptist
