Church of Saint Nicholas Petritis
On the southern side of Kastoria, in the Doltso district, stands the Church of Saint Nicholas (Petritis), a small yet prominent monument of the late Byzantine period. It is a single-aisle, timber-roofed church dating to the late 14th century. Today, its fresco decoration survives in fragments on the eastern wall and in the sanctuary apse, allowing visitors to discern traces of the original artistic phase. During the post-Byzantine period, the church was repaired, mainly along the southern and western walls, where it was also expanded. In the 19th century, it underwent extensive redecoration: the main church was repainted, and the iconostasis was overpainted by the painter Machairas. This later intervention, dated to 1897, partially destroyed the original Byzantine paintings on the eastern wall, altering parts of the initial decoration.
Nevertheless, several scenes from the first fresco phase are still preserved to this day. In the sanctuary apse, you can see the Virgin Platytera, the Communion of the Apostles, and the officiating hierarchs Saint Basil the Great and Saint John Chrysostom. The Annunciation is also preserved on the eastern wall, an important element of the original iconographic program.
By visiting the church, you can observe the succession of different artistic phases within a single space, and understand how history, wear, and restoration interventions have shaped the monument’s present form of a most significant monument of Kastoria.
