The Church of Zoodochos Pigi (, "

Life-giving Spring The Mother of God of the Life-giving Spring or Life-giving Font (, ; rus, Живоно́сный Исто́чник, Zhivonósny Istóchnik, ʐɨvɐˈnosnɨj ɪˈstotɕnʲɪk, links=y) is an epithet of the Holy Theotokos that originated with her ...

") is a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

-era church in the village of

Pyli, Boeotia Pyli ( meaning "gate", before 1927: Δερβενοσάλεσι - ''Dervenosalesi'') is a village and a community in Boeotia, Greece. The community includes the villages Lefka, Panakto and Prasino. It was the seat of the former municipality of Der ...

(formerly known as Dervenosalesi), originally part of a monastery. Located some 5 km west of the village, the modern church was originally the

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

or lite of the ''

katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon () or ''sobor'' () refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major Church (building), church building (temple) of a monastery corresponding to a conventual ...

'' church of a monastery. The monastery is otherwise unidentified and is not mentioned in any source or inscription, but the name "Monastery of Sterna" may be applicable to it. On the other hand, it is possible that this monastery is the same as the Monastery to the

Theometor Theometor (), meaning "mother of a god", is an epithet who was used for different characters in history. Ancient Greece and Rome * Hera at Samos had this epithet * Agrippina the Younger had this epithet on coins as she was the mother of Nero Chris ...

mentioned in the

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

of Meletius the Younger, in which case it dates to the end of the 11th century. On stylistic grounds, it has been dated to the late 12th century. The katholikon, whose foundations survive, was a

cross-in-square A cross-in-square or crossed-dome floor plan was the dominant form of church architecture in the middle and late Byzantine Empire. It featured a square centre with an internal structure shaped like a cross, topped by a dome. Architecture Archite ...

domed church with three semicircular apses, and sported a floor decoration by inlaid marble in geometric patterns very similar to the nearby Church of

Hosios Loukas Hosios Loukas () is a historic walled monastery situated near the town of Distomo, in Boeotia, Greece. Founded in the mid-10th century, the monastery is one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine architecture and art, and has been l ...

. The katholikon collapsed ca. 1890, and the narthex was transformed into the current church. The narthex is roughly octagonal, with four crosswise central vaults and niches in the corners. From the rest of the monastery, only portions of the surrounding walls and, to the north, the foundations of the monastery baths, datable to the 13th century, survive.

References

Byzantine church buildings in Central Greece Buildings and structures in Boeotia 12th-century architecture in Greece {{coord, 38.214408, N, 23.470431, E, display=title