CHURCH OF THE SAINTS-APOSTLES

It dates back to the 14th century, about the same time as St Catherine's Church. It belonged to a large monastery located in the same place, near the Litéa gate. Its exterior brick decoration is particularly beautiful because of its original geometric layout. The interior of the church has kept some very beautiful frescos and mosaics. Under the central dome is a Christ Pantocrator surrounded by prophets. These mosaics are the work of two different artists. One uses smaller tesserae for faces and naked body parts; the other works more on the luminosity, the vigour of the characters, as did the first mosaic artists of the 11th century. Admire the mosaic of the Transfiguration, almost entirely preserved if we except the gold background which is missing from all the mosaics of the church, the Turks having removed all the gold tesserae before covering the whole with the usual coating. At the centre of the representation is Christ, standing on a rock. He blesses with his right hand; behind him, an oval and radiant disc can be seen. On his right is Elijah, the prophet, with his hands joined on his chest. To his left, Moses holds the two Tables of the Law. At the bottom of the painting, three apostles: on the left Peter, in the centre Jacob and, on the right, John, inverted on his back. Also note in particular the representation of the Jesse tree, which is the Virgin's family tree.