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PAROS – ANTIPAROS HOTELIER ASSOCIATION

Church of Panagia Ekatontapyliani

The sacred jewel of Paros

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The sacred jewel of Paros is the Church of Panagia Ekatontapyliani, one of the most important early Christian monuments in Greece. It is located in the northeastern part of Parikia, a short distance from the port. According to Byzantine legends, the history of Ekatontapyliani begins in the 4th century. Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, while traveling to the Holy Land to find the True Cross, stopped with her ship at Paros, where she discovered a small church—one of the first of the new faith. She prayed and made a vow: if she found the True Cross, she would build a great church on that site. Her prayer was answered, Saint Helena found the Cross, and fulfilled her promise. According to another tradition, the church was built by Constantine the Great under the orders of his mother, who had not lived to fulfill her vow herself.

It was originally a cruciform wooden-roofed basilica church that was probably destroyed by fire. During the reign of Justinian, it was rebuilt and fitted with domes and a dome. According to tradition, the Justinian church of Ekatontapyliani was built by the student of the master builder who built Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

During the periods of Frankish and Ottoman rule, it suffered many destructions and lootings. However, the temple suffered its greatest destruction in the earthquakes of 1773. The subsequent repair distorted its original imposing form.

In 1959, restoration work began on the Ekatontapyliani, which today has the form it had in the time of Justinian, a cruciform basilica with a dome.

The sculptures that adorn the church come from the ancient temple of Demeter, which was located in the port of Parikia. On the south side of the large church is the 4th-century baptistery, the oldest and best-preserved baptistery in the entire Orthodox East. The baptistery contains the oldest fresco found on the island. It dates from the 11th-12th century and depicts Saint George. Ekatontapyliani also houses the Byzantine Museum of Parikia, with rare icons, wood carvings, and other ecclesiastical relics from the Byzantine and Ottoman periods.

The biggest celebration on the island is the feast of the Virgin Mary on August 15, when the religious celebration is accompanied by a large folk festival.