Maza, Crete

Maza (Greek: Μάζα) is a small village in the municipality of Apokoronas of the Chania regional unit on the island of Crete, Greece. At the time of the 2011 census, it had 100 residents (252 including the villages Fones and Champatha). The village is perched on a mountain slope some 150 m above the valley of the Boutakas (Μπούτακας) river, 1.7 km to the south of the Chania-Rethymno road.

Between the administrative reforms of 2006 and 2011, it belonged to the Kryonerida municipal unit.

The church of St Nicholas Mazianos

In the central square of the village stands a church dedicated to St Nicholas, of unclear medieval date, with an interior painted in 1325/6 by Ioannis Pagomenos. The church is a single-nave barrel-vaulted structure, covered by a tiled saddle roof and ending in an apse to the east. Its dimensions are 6.67 x 4.3 m. A transverse arch divides the interior space into western and eastern bays. The builders used unworked stone, with the door jambs and lintel as the only major exception. The sole window opens into the apse. A notable decorative feature are the three glazed bowls immured in the façade, two above the entrance and the other above the roof tiles of the apse. Colourful glazed open-form ceramics used in this manner are known as and in the Aegean generally date to the period of the Frankish rule.

The dedicatory inscription painted inside on the western wall identifies the artist, the date of the fresco cycle, and its sponsors. One half of the project was funded by Dimitrios Sarakinopoulos and Konstattis Raptis, the other half by Georgios Mauromatis, Konstattinos Sarakinopoulos, "all the people of the village of Maza" and the priest Michael. Pagomenos had painted the church of Panagia at nearby Alikampos ten years earlier, in 1315/6.

Since at least 2012 the key to the church has been available on request from the owner of the adjacent taverna, which boasts an olive tree 600 years old.

Gallery

File:Μάζα_Αποκορώνου_0264.jpg, The central square of Maza with the church of St Nicholas from the west
File:Ναός Αγίου Νικολάου, Μάζα Αποκορώνου 0265.jpg, The church of St Nicholas facing north west
File:Agios Nikolaos church, Maza - exterior facing SE (2022).jpg, St Nicholas - exterior view of south wall and apse
File:Agios Nikolaos church, Maza - apse facing E (2022).jpg, St Nicholas - the apse facing east
File:Agios Nikolaos - general view of interior.jpg, St Nicholas - the interior
File:Ναός Αγίου Νικολάου, Μάζα Αποκορώνου 0262.jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of St Barbara and St Anastasia and the painted inscription
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Betrayal by Judas.jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of the Resurrection
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Baptism of Christ (detail).jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of the Baptism of Christ (detail)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - St George and St Demetrius (detail).jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of St George and St Demetrius (detail)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Hypapante.jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Philoxenia of Abraham (detail).jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of the Hospitality of Abraham (detail)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Deesis with St Nicholas.jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of the Deesis (with St Nicholas in place of St John the Baptist)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Empty Sepulchre (detail).jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of the Empty Sepulchre (detail)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Entry into Jerusalem.jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of the Entry into Jerusalem
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Entry into Jerusalem (detail).jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of the Entry into Jerusalem (detail)
File:Ναός Αγίου Νικολάου, Μάζα Αποκορώνου 0236.jpg, St Nicholas - fresco of the Crucifixion (above the entrance)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - threshold.jpg, St Nicholas - the threshold piece

Notes

References

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Populated places in Chania (regional unit)

{{Crete-geo-stub