Panagia Church

On the west side of the Byzantine castle stands the Church of Panaghia namely the Virgin Mary, which has a gold-adorned iconostasis with remarkable religious paintings and icons inside, comprising a religious and intellectual cultural symbol for the residents of Leros.

According to the legend, an icon of the Virgin Mary Panagia appeared on the island emerging from the sea. It is said that it was miraculously placed in the castle’s gunpowder storage area between two lit candles and remained there despite all efforts made by the Turkish Aga of that period to have it removed from that specific spot.

A church was built in her honor on that very site, which quickly became a sacred sanctuary of respect and worship for seamen and the whole island in general.

The original, tiny church was built at its current location in 1669. In 1719, it was renovated and ultimately inaugurated by his Holiness Metropolitan Bishop of Karpathos, Neophytos Germanis.

The basilica temple has endured a number of interventions and additions during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The small icon of the Panagia Vrefokratousa, namely the Virgin Mary of the Infant Guardian, is a precious religious heirloom of worship for the local people of Leros. A holy icon of small dimensions is enclosed and kept within a woodcut frame and bears a gold and silver casing which was hand-crafted around 1732. The temple exhibits many valuable Episcopal icons of supreme quality. Many of them, as well as various other artifacts, are displayed and housed in the Ecclesiastical Vestry of Byzantine Art, which was recently built next to the temple of the church presently operates as a museum.

Source: www.leros.gr