In Eleftheria Square is the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. It was built between 1924 and 1929, modeled after and reflecting the modern morphology of the Knights' Church, which was located in the western fortified part of Kollaki and was completely destroyed after the gunpowder explosion in 1856.
The new church, also dedicated to Saint John, was founded on the designs of Bernard Eugè ne Antoine Rottier in 1828 and Eugè ne Flandin in 1853. The construction was supervised by the Italian architect Florestano di Fausto. It was built in the architectural style of a three-nave basilica with a wooden roof, a raised central nave and a three-part sanctuary, with impressive openings on the facades, typical of Western churches.
An equally impressive bell tower in the form of a tower to the east with a built-in marble shield with the lion of St. Mark, 26 m high, was added a year after the church was completed. Shortly afterwards, a triangular body with a portico-atrium, a pericentric roof structure and a bottle of holy water in the middle was formed.
After the annexation of the Dodecanese in 1947, the Catholic Church of Saint John was converted to Orthodox and consecrated under the name of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. It was inaugurated by Metropolitan Timofios of Rhodes.
The exterior of the church remained unchanged, while the interior was adapted to the needs of the Orthodox worship to which it was dedicated. The most important changes concern the replacement of the iconostasis, the pointed arches dividing the transept, the brick floor, the alabaster windows and the decoration of the walls.
The iconostasis, according to the inscription on the breastplate, is the work of the Skaris brothers from Piraeus, while the frescoes were painted between 1951 and 1961 by Fotis Kontoglou, his student Ioannis Terzis and his student Pantelis Odambasis. The four main icons are also attributed to these same artists. More information about the church's identity is provided by a marble votive inscription on the west wall inside, which lists the sponsors of the decoration, the years of the frescoes, and the name of the then Metropolitan of Rhodes, Spyridon.
The completion of the modifications and iconography of the interior of the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary coincided with the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to hold the Pan-Orthodox Synod, which was held in the church from September 24 to October 1.1961. In memory of this conference, the columns of the church are decorated with the flags of the Orthodox patriarchates that were present.
In the open space of Eleftheria Square, a few meters south of the entrance to the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, there is a fountain, the calling card of the area. It also has its own interesting history. It is a copy of the medieval fountain (1279) Fontana grande of the city of Viterbo, Italy. It was built by the architects brothers Giovanni and Ermanno Viterbesi Pizzicetti from materials provided by Alfredo Maggini as part of the promotion of the marble company that he owned. The material for its construction is a volcanic gray stone, which is found in large quantities in the Viterbo area, known as "piperno".
In 1911, they presented their work at an exhibition held in Rome, where they won first place. They then sold a replica of the fountain to a Jewish notary, who installed it in his villa in Parioli, Rome, and then gave it to the Italian Ministry of Education, which in turn gave it to the city of Rhodes in 1925. Since then, the fountain has stood in front of the church, decorating the square and cooling passersby.
The new church, also dedicated to Saint John, was founded on the designs of Bernard Eugè ne Antoine Rottier in 1828 and Eugè ne Flandin in 1853. The construction was supervised by the Italian architect Florestano di Fausto. It was built in the architectural style of a three-nave basilica with a wooden roof, a raised central nave and a three-part sanctuary, with impressive openings on the facades, typical of Western churches.
An equally impressive bell tower in the form of a tower to the east with a built-in marble shield with the lion of St. Mark, 26 m high, was added a year after the church was completed. Shortly afterwards, a triangular body with a portico-atrium, a pericentric roof structure and a bottle of holy water in the middle was formed.
After the annexation of the Dodecanese in 1947, the Catholic Church of Saint John was converted to Orthodox and consecrated under the name of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. It was inaugurated by Metropolitan Timofios of Rhodes.
The exterior of the church remained unchanged, while the interior was adapted to the needs of the Orthodox worship to which it was dedicated. The most important changes concern the replacement of the iconostasis, the pointed arches dividing the transept, the brick floor, the alabaster windows and the decoration of the walls.
The iconostasis, according to the inscription on the breastplate, is the work of the Skaris brothers from Piraeus, while the frescoes were painted between 1951 and 1961 by Fotis Kontoglou, his student Ioannis Terzis and his student Pantelis Odambasis. The four main icons are also attributed to these same artists. More information about the church's identity is provided by a marble votive inscription on the west wall inside, which lists the sponsors of the decoration, the years of the frescoes, and the name of the then Metropolitan of Rhodes, Spyridon.
The completion of the modifications and iconography of the interior of the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary coincided with the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to hold the Pan-Orthodox Synod, which was held in the church from September 24 to October 1.1961. In memory of this conference, the columns of the church are decorated with the flags of the Orthodox patriarchates that were present.
In the open space of Eleftheria Square, a few meters south of the entrance to the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, there is a fountain, the calling card of the area. It also has its own interesting history. It is a copy of the medieval fountain (1279) Fontana grande of the city of Viterbo, Italy. It was built by the architects brothers Giovanni and Ermanno Viterbesi Pizzicetti from materials provided by Alfredo Maggini as part of the promotion of the marble company that he owned. The material for its construction is a volcanic gray stone, which is found in large quantities in the Viterbo area, known as "piperno".
In 1911, they presented their work at an exhibition held in Rome, where they won first place. They then sold a replica of the fountain to a Jewish notary, who installed it in his villa in Parioli, Rome, and then gave it to the Italian Ministry of Education, which in turn gave it to the city of Rhodes in 1925. Since then, the fountain has stood in front of the church, decorating the square and cooling passersby.
Translated automatically from Ukrainian. View original
Comments (0)
leave a comment
Show other comments …
