The church of Saints Constantine and Helen lies outside the walls of Servia at a relatively short distance south of the church of Agioi Anargyroi. Although earlier research considered this church to be a 19th-century building, the preliminary work for its restoration revealed its original masonry and wall paintings, removing newer coatings.
The church is a single-space, relatively large, gable-roofed church with a three-sided apse on the east, now supported by a newer semi-circular pedestal. The particular element of the three-sided apse – each side of which has a blind arch – the brick and stone masonry of the church and its brick ornamentation suggest a 13th-century dating, linking the monument to similar examples of the Despotate of Epirus.
The results of removing the newer coatings inside the church were no less impressive. Conservators revealed wall paintings in the church’s eastern and western parts, which can be placed in two phases. From the painting’s first phase, only remains were found at the entrance of the church. We have traces of a floral decorative theme, which could be dated to around the 14th century based on its stylistic characteristics.
The second phase of the church’s wall painting is more interesting, although its preservation is rather poor, with much of the painted surface showing severe losses and traces of hammer blows, which roughen the walls so the newer plaster would stick. The niche of the sanctuary is covered by a large representation of Theotokos Vlachernitissa, while lower down the scene of Melismos is painted with co-officiating hierarchs and angel deacons. On the eastern wall, the depiction of Deacon Euplus and the Theotokos from the scene of the Annunciation are still visible. This second phase has already been dated to the end of the 16th century by the iconographic and stylistic characteristics of the painting.
Θα συμπληρωθεί σε επόμενη φάση
Τσιάπαλη, Μ. & Ανδρούδης, Π. (2014) “Ο άγνωστος βυζαντινός ναός των Αγίων Κωνσταντίνου και Ελένης στα Σέρβια”, Τιμητικός Τόμος, Αφιέρωμα στον Ακαδημαϊκό Π.Λ. Βοκοτόπουλο (επιμ. Β. Κατσαρός, Α. Τούρτα) Αθήνα 2015, σ. 165-172.
Τσιάπαλη, Μ. (2022) Η καστροπολιτεία των Σερβίων, Θεσσαλονίκη: Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων Περιφέρειας Θεσσαλονίκης.
The creation of this website is part of the implementation of the Act “Consolidation and Restoration of the Western Tower of the Castle of Servia,” which was implemented by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kozani and co-funded by Greece and the European Union / European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme “Western Macedonia” of the NSRF 2014-2020.