Red Church (Dzoumerka)

The Red Church is the only preserved Byzantine monument in the center of the Dzoumerka massif. It is located near the village of Paleokhri, three km south of the village of Vurgareli dema Central Dzoumerka by the road that connected the cities of Arta and Trikala and the Region of Epirus with Thessaly during the “ Epirus despotata ” period. It is one of the most significant monuments of the reign of the Comnenian dynasty - Duk in Epirus. The church was built around 1280, during the reign of Nicephorus I , with the money of the brothers Tsimiskis, John and Theodore, who were prostrators (πρωτοστράτορες - imperial grooms, military and court rank) at the Byzantine court.

The temple dedicated to the Birth of the Virgin Mary was given the name “Red Church” because of the bright red color of the bricks of the wall masonry, as well as Panagia (Theotokos) Vellas, because it was a courtyard of the Vellas monastery, located 35 km north of the city of Ioannina ^{[1 ]} . The Compound was also called Vasilomonastiro (“Βασιλοοοοονστηρο” - royal monastery), the name that conveys its original purpose as the catholicon of the monastery, its importance and connection with the court of the despots of Epirus.

The old monastery was not preserved, but the cruciform temple remained intact. This is an octagonal building measuring 16 Χ 9.15 meters, which is divided into the narthex and the main temple. Initially, the temple was crowned with a dome with a diameter of 3 meters, but after the dome was destroyed, a wooden double slope roof was installed instead. Originally, the temple had 5 entrances, 3 of which were later built up. 6 large arched windows that dominate in all its sides impress and impress with its bright red color its name.

Art critics note the great similarity of the Red Church, both in its architecture and in its interior, with the Byzantine Church of the Most-Holy Mother of God Perivleptos in Ohrid , and suggest that both churches were built by the same builders ^[2] .

In addition to the special architecture, no less important are the finds made inside the temple. These are the preserved parts of the original gypsum iconostasis , and fragments (remnants) of its wall frescoes, which are also the only dated and with the inscriptions of the fresco complex “Epirus despotat”. Specifically, on the eastern side of the narthex, the wall painting of the patrons of art (donors) of the temple was preserved. The center is dominated by the Mother of God , seated on a throne and holding a baby in her arms, accompanied by two angels.

Below her legs, on a smaller scale, stand the heads of the saints, as well as two pairs of secular people. These are the Protostrators Theodore Tsimsky, accompanied by his wife Maria, who holds the model of the temple in her left hand and presents it to the Theotokos.

Accordingly, to the right of the Virgin, his brother Ioannis Tsimiskis stands out, also accompanied by his wife Anna.

The figures are dressed in luxurious clothes and their peculiarity lies in the fact that they are painted in a natural manner, and not with the usual severity of figures of the Byzantine period.

Also, of particular interest are the two columns in front of the iconostasis of the temple, probably belonging to a building of classical antiquity that existed here before the construction of a Christian temple.

After the creation of the Monastery of St. George in Vurgareli (between 1690-1714 ^[3] ), the Red Church was transferred to this monastery and remained its compound until the beginning of the 20th century.

However, when the region was liberated by the Greek army during the First Balkan War (1912–1913), the church was already destroyed and abandoned.

The region suffered during the Second World War (1940–1944), especially during the Wehrmacht’s punitive operations against the Greek partisans in 1943, when a third of all the houses and buildings of the region were burned.

The region also suffered during the civil war (1946–1949). Only after the end of the civil war, in the 1950s, the church was carried by an architectural monument under the protection of the state.

In 1967, the church suffered from an earthquake that struck the Dzoumerka region.

From this point on, start large-scale restoration work, which continues to this day with small interruptions.

In the first decade of the 21st century, systematic restoration work was carried out on the roofing and flooring of the church.

When digging up the floor, inside the temple and over a large area, graves were found, one next to the other, with stone slabs separating them, which testify to mass one-time burial, during military operations or (not yet discovered) a deadly epidemic that struck the region ^{[4 ] [5] [6] [7]} .