Churches · Arta

Red Church, Vourgareli

Κόκκινη Εκκλησιά

Orthodox church in Central Tzoumerka Municipality, Greece

  • TypeChurches
  • WhereArta, Greece
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Photo: N10705013 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About

About Red Church, Vourgareli

The Red Church (Greek: Κόκκινη Εκκλησιά) is a Byzantine church from c. 1280 in the village of Vourgareli in the Tzoumerka region of Greece. It was founded as the katholikon of a monastery by the brothers John and Theodore Tzimiskes, who held the rank of protostrator. The church was originally dedicated to the birth of the Theotokos, but became known as the "Red Church" due to the colour of its masonry.

Historically, it was also known as "Panagia of Vella" (Παναγία Βελλάς), as it was a metochi of the Vella Monastery, and as "Royal Monastery" (Βασιλομονάστηρο), due to its importance. Due to their strong similarity, it has been suggested that the church was built by the same workshop that erected the Church of St. Mary Peribleptos (also known as St. Clement) in Ohrid in 1295.

Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Built
1280
Arta