Church of Panagia (cemetery), Apano Moulia - 2007

Church of Panagia (cemetery), Apano Moulia, Heraklion. Liana Starida, Eleni Kanaki, Periandros Epitropakis, Z. Aletras, Ch. Mpilmezi and N. Marnellou (13η ΕΒΑ) report that SW of the Apano Moulia settlement, and 500 m. away from it, the church of Panagia is located on top of a hill and inside the cemetery.

It is a small rectangular building with a built arch, while its E side results to a semi-circular arch with a window in the middle. The entrance is present in the middle of the W side of the main church.

The internal surfaces of the walls were covered in paintings of saints and events from the life of Christ and Mary, some of which have been destroyed, while others have been covered with lime. In the interior of the N side of the church, approximately in the middle, the engraving “1479 27 ΜΑR(TI)OV / hic fuit…” can be found. The year on the engraving is the terminus ante quem regarding the building and painting of the church.

During the cleaning of the space around the church by the 13η ΕΒΑ in collaboration with the Ecclesiastical Council of Apano Moulia, an underground built shaft grave covered in limestone slabs was excavated. This grave dates to the period of the Ottoman occupation.

[Entry created by C. Koureta]