The church of St. George, in the mountainous settlement of Kamariotes, (about 30 km. away from Heraklion) is built upon a rock in the architectural three-aisled, (dedicated to St. George, Christ and St. Nikolas) barrel-vaulted basilica plan onto which was added first, a domed narthex, and then, a barrel-vaulted outer narthex.
The church
was built as an episcopal one at the beginning of the 14th century,
as can be seen from the construction of a synthronon, with three steps, in the
central conch of the sanctuary, since the right for the installment of an
orthodox bishop on the feuds of the family was granted with the treaty of 1299
between the Venetians and Alexios Kallergis.
The policy
of the Kallergi has been stated
characteristically on the western side of the curch on the lintel of the
luxurious late Gothic doorframe with the lion of St Mark in Venice in relief
between two crests of the family of the Kallergi as well as with a second depiction of the crest on a two-headed
eagle in relief on the external side of
the central apse of the church.
The, rich
in sculpted decoration, doorframe was built later during the 15th century.
On the western wall of the narthex are two double-light pointed windows which
were walled in during the addition of the outer narthex and covered with wall
paintings.
In the
interior the aisles are divided by three pointed barrel-vaults, a solution
which is found in churches of the area around Psiloreites, where the feuds of
the Kallergi family were.
In the northern
aisle two late Gothic capitals of exceptional art have been incorporated in the
pillar, remains of a luxury grave in the
form of an arcosolium , possibly of the founders’ family.
The church
preserves a significant part of its wall painting decoration, especially in the
area of sanctuary.
The size of
the church in relation to the prevailing ones of the period, the high quality
of the decoration, the predominance of western influence in architecture, the
information from the sources as well as similar examples of churches in the
wider area of Psiloreites seem to be connected directly to the efforts of Alexios
Kallergis to found a Greek’ small state on Venetian-occupied Crete.
Η Ελένη Βασιλάκη είναι δημοσιογράφος. Έχει εργαστεί από το 1995 μέχρι σήμερα σε εφημερίδες και ραδιοφωνικούς σταθμούς του Ηρακλείου συνεργαζόμενη παράλληλα με ΜΜΕ στην Αθήνα. Είναι πτυχιούχος Πολιτικών Επιστημών και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης με master στη Διοίκηση Πολιτισμικών Μονάδων ενώ μιλά Αγγλικά και Ιταλικά. Λατρεύει τα ταξίδια και τις εκδρομές, τις πεζοπορίες στη φύση και τη γνωριμία με τον τόπο της και τους ανθρώπους του.