FRENAROS: The chapel of Agia Marina from the 15th century

The church of Agia Marina in Frenaros is single-aisled, vaulted. The pointed arch rests on two slings that start from cantilevers, high up on the north and south walls, in the form of two overlapping quarter-spherical projections. It has internal dimensions of approximately 11X5 m and ends in a semicircular arch, both internally and externally. The arch has a chord of 3,62 m and a bow of 1,70 m. To the north and to the south of the arch, two semi-circular clamshells open on the eastern wall, at a height of 1 m from the floor. The clamshell on the north side of the arch, which has a span of 0,50 m and a depth of 0,35 m, serves as a "Prothesis".

Based on the pointed arch and the niche of the Holy Step, which has a pointed hemisphere, as well as the style of the frescoes, it can be dated with all reservations to the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, probably during the Venetian period.

The walls of the church are built with well-squared ashlars and are 1,05 m thick. In the thickness of the north wall, internally, there is a blind arch at a distance of 2,50 m from the east wall. Two similar blind arches are also on the south wall on either side of the south entrance. Given the opening (about 2 m) and the depth (0,45 m) these three blind arches probably served to receive the graves of the owners of the church. This is not unusual. Similar tombs exist, e.g. in the churches of Agios Filonos Agridion in the east of Rizokarpasos, and of Panagia Potamitissa in Kazafani.

The church has two entrances, one in the middle of the south wall 1,15 m wide and one in the middle of the west wall 1,06 m wide. Above the west entrance, on the outside, there is a relief shield with a cross. There are only two windows: one in the semi-circular wall of the arch measuring 0,46X0,32 m and one above the arch, high up in the eastern wall measuring 0,45X0,25 m. The width of the last window decreases externally to 0,20 m .

The church has been decorated with frescoes by more than one painter. On the west wall, above the entrance, large pieces of a large-scale Crucifixion, strongly influenced by the Italian art of the time, are preserved. Large sections of frescoes of Saint Mama and a colossal archangel survive on the north wall. In the blind arch of the northern wall, parts of a fresco of Saint George are preserved. In the other parts of the church only insignificant traces of frescoes are preserved.

Find the chapel here:

With information from Polygnosis