Greece’s Culture Ministry, in cooperation with the Epirus Region and the Municipality of Arta, launched the process to restore the historic Church of Panagia Parigoritissa in Arta after restoration studies matured and the Central Archaeological Council issued a positive opinion.
The Culture Ministry said its Directorates for the Restoration of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments and for the Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments will implement the conservation and restoration works.
Authorities will include the project in the municipality’s Sustainable Urban Development programme, funded through the Epirus Regional Operational Programme under the 2021–2027 ESF framework.
Culture Minister Lina Mendoni described the Church of Panagia Parigoritissa as a major Byzantine monument of exceptional importance to art history. She said the church, dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, was built in the late 13th century by the Despot of Epirus Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas, his wife Anna Palaiologina and their son Thomas.
Mendoni said the monument followed an original architectural type considered unique in Byzantine architecture. She noted that the central dome featured contemporary mosaics of Christ Pantocrator and prophets, likely created by two groups of craftsmen from Constantinople or Thessaloniki.
She said the planned interventions aimed to stabilise and protect the monument, upgrade its form and internal layout, and highlight it as a complete ensemble. Mendoni also pointed to earlier restoration interventions in the mid-20th century, including major work by architect Anastasios Orlandos.
The minister said the monument’s complexity required a dedicated research programme by the National Technical University of Athens to document key assumptions in the structural study and support system.
The Culture Ministry said the approved studies included a full external and internal lighting plan, covering functional, safety and presentation lighting. The plan proposed mild and contemplative illumination focusing on five key internal and external points.
The project also included a complete electromechanical study aligned with the lighting plan, featuring an automatic fire detection system. Authorities also prepared a study for the surrounding area, which required excavation research to reveal an older buried post-Byzantine church. The ministry said the design would allow both significant parts of the monument to be presented and highlighted.
The Culture Ministry said Panagia Parigoritissa stood on the site of an earlier church. It said the building featured a square main body without internal supports and used an original system supporting the dome on eight pilasters with columns arranged in three superimposed rows.
Officials said the monument preserved exceptional decoration from different periods, including mosaics, wall paintings and sculptural elements. The ministry noted that surviving sculptural decoration included the compositions of the Nativity and the Lamb, framed by Evangelists and Prophets, reflecting western artistic influences.
