Entering Velvento, near “Fiskina”, right after the byzantine church of Agios Minas, we find the post byzantine church of Agios Nikolaos. It is one of the most important monuments of the period, as in it, one can find the oldest known iconostasis of Greece. The church operated as a parish with monastic character, until the end of 19th century. I was preserved until 1936, just like it was it was during the Turkish Rule. It consisted of a nave, a closed narthex with murals, which was also used as an infirmary for the mentally ill, a “hagiati” (roofed verandah) in the southern side, two southeastern cells, the cemetery and a high enclosure. The building lost its initial monastery character, with the city planning changes that took place in the 1960s. Today only the single transept nave, the “hagiati” at the southern side, as well as a contemporary roofed space for the preservation of murals at the western side are preserved, where the ruined narthex used to be.
According to the founder’s inscription, which is saved on the right side of the southern entrance door, the church has been renovated thoroughly and new murals were created in 1588 by the painter Nikolaos, when Ioasaf was bishop of Servia. These works were funded by the respectable lord Mr. Moutafis and other local families. The church’s interior is separated in three zones. At the lowest zone, one can see whole body Saints’ icons and Martyrs. In the upper zones, one sees scenes from the life of Jesus and Mary (Twelve Feasts, Miracles, and Passions). On the southern wall, under the figures of Saint Minas, Saint Anastasia and Saint Paraskevi, parts of a previous mural that dates back to the last quarter of the14th century, are found. At the sanctuary, on both sides of Virgin Mary “the Platytera”, the Three Maccabees and two incidents from Abraham’s Sacrifice are distinctive. On the external southern side of the church, in four zones, we see Virgin Mary holding Jesus, the Spearing of Saint Dimitrios at the lintel, the image of Father Superior Sisoi that grieves for the vanity of earthly glory at the grave of Alexander the Great, scenes from the life of Saint Nikolaos, whose Dream (“Enypnio”) is found at the entrance’s big shallow alcove. The southern external side of the church is respectively separated in two parts. On the right side of the entrance, in three zones, we find scenes from Genesis and invocations towards the congregation, while on the left we see the scene of the Second Coming. The most remarkable point of the church is the iconostasis, the oldest in Greece, according to the inscription below the Crucified Christ. It dates back to 1591 and is a donation by the same lord that funded the murals. It is gilded and bears a floral decoration in low relief, in the colors of red and blue in the back, while its ridge is of perfect technique. This work belongs to a series of similar iconostases from Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly and Serbia and is one of the best of this kind.
