Brontochion Monastery

Brontochion Monastery (Greek: Βροντόχιον, Μονή Βροντοχίου) is a monastery in Mystras, Greece.^[1]

The frescoes of Aphentiko church

The abbot Pachomius incorporated into it the small church of the Hodegetria, or "Aphentikon", as the monastery's catholicon.^[2][3][4] The church was reconstructed and completed around 1310, with some scholars giving 1308-1312 as the construction dates and others 1310–1322.^[2][5] The despot Theodore I Palaiologos, who died in 1407, is buried here.^[6]

The Hodegetria Church is the first example of what's called the "Mystras type" design. The lower floor is a three-aisled basilica, whereas above is a traditional Byzantine cross-in-square church plan. The cross-in-square, five-domed gallery is encircled by a portico that has a belfry.^[7] There are also features more typical of Constantinople, such as the use of blind arches.

On the lower level the walls are covered by marble revetment, a luxurious feature, and there is also a surviving fresco of the Virgin Mary as Zoodochos Pege (Life-containing Source) in the lunette above the so-called royal door.^[8]

During Ottoman rule, the monastery was converted into a mosque.^[9]

See also

• History of Roman and Byzantine domes