Dome

General view; The large complex of the monastery of the Brontochion occupies the northernmost corner of the Lower Town and served as a cultural centre and burial place of the despots. It has two churches, Hagioi Theodoroi and the Hodegetria, also known as Aphentiko. The Hodegetria is an ambitious building and was the model of what has been called the 'Mystras type' of church: the ground-plan is that of a three-aisled basilica with a narthex, while the upper storey is in the form of a cross-in-square church with five domes. The wall paintings of the Hodegetria are among the most pretentious of the early 14th century in Mystras and bear the closest resemblance to the art of Constantinople, as represented by the mosaics and wall paintings of the monastery of Chora. On the basis of documentary evidence the decoration of the Hodegetria can be assigned to between 1311-1312 and 1322. The donor was Pachomios, the enterprising abbot (ca. 1310-1322) of the Brontochion Monastery, who obtained important privileges from the Byzantine emperors Andronikos II (reg 1282-1328) and Michael IX (reg 1295-1320). Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 7/17/2008)