Sitting at the end of the main boat dock in Aegina town, this double-domed chapel is dedicated to the patron saint of sailors, Agios Nikolaos and was built with funds raised by the island's sailors. It's the first thing you see when you come off the boat. The white domes are reminiscent of the Cyclades rather than the Saronic islands.
The entrance
The view from the church
The woman standing in front of the church was in the process of whitewashing it, so had I taken this photograph one day later, the chapel would have been brilliant white.
The cave-like interior is tiny and what is unusual about it is that rather than finding the usual framed icons inside, the walls have paintings of the various saints.
Another sculptural piece. I love the buttress as well as the twin domes. They must have had a gifted local artist who did the interior paintings. I like the painting inside the window alcove. When was the chapel built?
ReplyDeleteThe painting inside the window alcove is unusual indeed. It's a gorgeous little church, and it takes your breath away as you see it coming off the boat. I do not know when it was built, I tried google, but all I could find is that it's Byzantine, Olga - much earlier than I thought, but then I don't really know much about church architecture, I just love those little chapels - like you say, they are extremely sculptural.
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