Taxiarches of the Metropolis – The bones of Pavlos Melas
Just a few steps from the cathedral of Kastoria stands the Church of the Taxiarches of the Metropolis, dating to the 10th century and dedicated to Archangel Michael. This small, three-aisled, barrel-vaulted basilica, built with materials from earlier churches of the area, is among the oldest surviving monuments in the city. In addition to wall paintings from two phases (the later ones from the 14th century), the church houses the bones of Pavlos Melas, a prominent figure of the Macedonian Struggle. Depictions of foreign rulers, references to them in inscriptions, and funerary portraits of prominent Kastorians testify that the space also functioned as a cemetery.
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