2.9 | The cave chapel of St George Kremastos

The cave church of Agios Georgios (Kremastos), carved into an almost inaccessible rock, is located in the Small Gorge os Servia, also called St. George’s Gorge, east of the Byzantine castle. Nowadays, a newer staircase and some carved steps provide access to the cave chapel. The cave’s interior is shaped like a small church (with a niche at the depth of the cave) and is decorated with remarkable wall paintings. Although the painted surface of the cave is preserved in a fragmentary and deplorable condition with numerous later engravings, research has already established that this cave bears wall paintings of two phases, the oldest of which dates back to the 13th century and the youngest to the 15th century. The first phase is accompanied by an inscription which, despite its fragmentary state of preservation today, was recorded in 1888 and, in combination with the parts that are visible today, has as follows:

This cave of the holy and glorious great martyr and trophy-bearer George was painted by the contribution and expenses of the late Theodoros Komninou Livadaris.

Theodoros Komnenos Livadaris is a historical person mentioned by Manuel Philes as the founder of the monastery of Theotokos in Constantinople. This fact supports dating the first phase of the cave’s frescoes to the end of the 13th century.

The paintings of the second phase are preserved in a better condition, and one can see the representations of the Theotokos Vlahernitissa, Christ Pantocrator with the symbols of the Evangelists, as well as part of the scenes of the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, the Dormition of the Virgin and a depiction of St. George. The stylistic characteristics of this second phase and the iconographic choices of the painter indicate a dating to the second half of the 15th century, linking this particular monument of Servia to the chorus of works heavily influenced by the so-called “Kastoria workshop.”

Bibliography

Ξυγγόπουλος, Α. (1957) Τα μνημεία των Σερβίων. Αθήνα: Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών.

Σαβιλλωτίδης, Κ. (1999) Τα Βυζαντινά και Μεταβυζαντινά Μνημεία των Σερβίων. Σέρβια: Μορφωτικός Όμιλος Σερβίων ‘Τα κάστρα’.

Τσιάπαλη, Μ. (2017) “H επίδραση του «καστοριανού εργαστηρίου» σε μνημεία της περιοχής Γρεβενων και Κοζανης”, Βυζαντινά 35, σ. 315-329.

Τσιάπαλη, Μ. (2022) Η καστροπολιτεία των Σερβίων, Θεσσαλονίκη: Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων Περιφέρειας Θεσσαλονίκης.