Церква св. Миколая Рагави Church of St. Mikolaja Raghavi

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The Church of Agios Nikolaos Ragavas was rebuilt from the daylight of the Acropolis within the late Roman wall, it could be reached from the daylight, most likely, according to ancient times Tripodon street. The temple dates back to the mid-11th century and, according to its name, an old Athenian tradition associates the monument with the aristocratic family of Ragavas. The validity of this hypothesis can be seen from the presence on the column of the dome of an engraved inscription sent to Leon Ragavas, probably the founder of the temple.
The temple follows the architectural type of simple, multi-columned, cross-like churches with a particularly elegant octagonal dome. The primary appearance of the Byzantine church today can be seen in the “Athenian” type dome and the front side. On this faç ade, the masonry in the most similar Byzantine part is faced with a whole, including a massive vertical vapnyak in the lower part and presents a ceramic decor with elements of kufi and simple or jagged tiles dark shadows, which reveal the arches of the openings. Among them, the largest one is made of a horseshoe and resembles an old entrance opening, which was surrounded by a hollow-shaped barrier.
With the transformation of the parish church in the 19th century, the church received significant additions and additions, including the great narthex at the entrance, which led to the demolition of the original narthex, the chapel of Agia Paraskevi on the old side and the massive buttress vzdovzh the diverging side. The picturesque decoration of the temple is brought to the point of modernity. At the end of the 1970s (1979-1980), the Archaeological Service carried out a number of works to identify, restore and conserve the Byzantine stage of the church. This important Byzantine monument is no longer a reference point for the residents of Plaka, as it still functions as a paraphrase for the area.