ROKA, Arta - 2003

Roka. Church of Agios Nikolaos. B. Papadopoulou (8th EBA) reports a study of a large funerary chapel (a single basilica with a narthex and a large round apse at the east end, the roof of which appears stepped on the exterior). The south side had an older courtyard gallery supported on column. The east side (and part of the north) belongs to an older Byzantine church. On the east pediment, above the apse roof, was a single window with a brickwork frame (now closed). Traces of a window are also preserved in the north side, close to a later rectangular window. The original church was built of stone and brick in irregular courses. On the west side, above the entrance to the narthex, part of a Byzantine balustrade is built into the wall: another piece of a Byzantine relief was built into a low wall along the south side of the church. The interior wallpaintings are poorly preserved. Of 19th-century date, they are in the usual four zones: among the full-length figures of saints is the recently martyred St George of Ioannina. On the east side is the last judgement. The artist of the paintings, whose signature appears over the south entrance, was Nikolaos son of Dimitrios of Chionades.