Dome

General view, from the lower town; t is situated on a terrace immediately below the Upper Town, has a superb view to the east and is the best-preserved and most picturesque of all the churches at Mystras. It was built and decorated ca. 1430 by Ioannis Frangopoulos, who held an office equivalent to that of prime minister in the despotate. His identity is revealed in the form of six painted monograms on the west façade of the church. The building imitates the design of the Hodegetria, comprising a three-aisled basilica on the ground floor surmounted by a cross-in-square church with five domes. Its exterior is decorated with small columns, Gothic arches, garlands and rinceau ornament. The wall paintings preserved in the gallery illustrate several trends and can be attributed to more than one artist. The original decoration of the ground floor was never completed, and the existing wall paintings date to the 17th and 18th centuries. The Panatassa wall paintings are the most important survivals from the last phase of Byzantine paintings. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 7/17/2008)