Saint Minas or Agios Minas ( el, Άγιος Μηνάς) is a

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

and a protected monument in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. It is located in the village of

Dryopida Dryopida ( el, Δρυοπίδα) is a village in Kythnos island, Greece. It most likely got its name from the first residents of the island, the Dryopes. It is declared as a traditional settlement because of its architecture. The village has an e ...

in Kythnos,

Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name ...

and it is dedicated to

Saint Menas Menas of Egypt (also Mina, Minas, Mena, Meena; el, Άγιος Μηνάς, ; 285 – c. 309), a martyr and wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Coptic saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his in ...

Location and description

Saint Minas is located in the neighbourhood of Galatas. It is a single-aisled, tile-roofed church with a two-pitched roof. It has a wooden carved altarpiece, whose largest part is intricate and of old construction and is supplemented with newer additions at the extremities. It is thought to have been transferred to Saint Minas from another smaller church and is in good condition. The interior of the church still contains an ornate epitaphios and despotic throne. In 1987 Saint Minas church has been classified by the

Greek Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture and Sports ( el, Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού) is the government department of Greece entrusted with preserving the country's cultural heritage, promoting the arts, and overseeing s ...

as a monument of the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

/ post-Byzantine period. The feast of the church is held on

November 11 Events Pre-1600 * 308 – At Carnuntum, Emperor ''emeritus'' Diocletian confers with Galerius, ''Augustus'' of the East, and Maximianus, the recently returned former ''Augustus'' of the West, in an attempt to end the civil wars of the ...

, and the celebration is accompanied by a traditional festival.

References

Bibliography

Agnantopoulou, Evangelia (2020). Wood in the cultural heritage of the Cyclades Islands: species, uses, protection. Thessaloniki: Aristotle University Of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Thesis.
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