AGHIA KYRIAKI CHURCH
Rare iconoclastic church with aniconic decoration offering a view on the bay of Moutsouna.
If the caretaker is not present, a door located at the rear under the narthex (porch) normally gives access to a stone passage leading to the nave. It is earned! Unknown to visitors, this dry-stone church dedicated to Saint Cyriacus (Aghia Kyriaki) is indeed one of the few well-preserved "iconoclastic" churches in the Balkans, i.e. whose frescoes do not include human representations. It was built at the end of the Iconic Quarrel that shook the Byzantine Empire from 723 to 843. It was erected by iconoclasts (which literally means "image breakers"). These refused any representation of Christ and the saints, as the icons were for them idolatry. Its "aniconical" decoration with geometric figures can be seen in the apse, with the representation of six birds wearing a ribbon around their necks, combined with small crosses flanked by palm trees. There are also chevrons, repeated forms of circles, squares and floral motifs. This original decoration has survived almost intact to the present day, protected as it was by a layer of plaster and a later painted decoration, with 12th-century figurative decoration in the apsidiolus. Thanks in particular to the Swiss association Hagia Kyriaki, a restoration project began in 2013. The walk to the church, passing by the church of Aghios Ioannis, offers a bird's eye view of the bay of Moutsouna, the small archipelago of Makares and the island of Donoussa.
