In the ruins of the Lenos Monastery on Mount Papikion
North of the settlement of Lenos and at a distance of 6 km are the ruins of an important for the time that was built, monastery complex as evidenced by the findings of the excavations. It consists of the monastery katholikon which is the major church building of the monastery, the refectory (the common dining area of the monks) and various other outbuildings. The katholikon combined two architectural types, the domed basilica and the cruciform inscribed church. In various parts of the church there were frescoes which, although preserved in fragments, are brilliant samples of Byzantine painting with an obvious influence from the art of Constantinople.
The church was built in the 11th century and was in use until the middle of the 14th. There were tombs under the floor inside the church but also outside built tombs were discovered. A remarkable one is attributed to Maria, a princess from Georgia, evident by a ring with the inscription on the Greek alphabet, ΜΑΡΗΑC ΒΟΤΩΝΙΑΤΗΝΑ. She was the ex-wife of the emperor Michael VII Doucas (1071-1078) and Nicephorus III Botaneiates (1078-1081). Maria Bagrationi, also known as Alani, was the mother of the legal successor Konstantinos Doucas from her first marriage.
Mount Papikion was an important monastic center during the Byzantine period. From the end of the 11th century there are written sources mainly from Byzantine historians that are confirmed by the research of archeologists who have discovered the existence of temples and monasteries in the area. Unfortunately, after the 12th century the monastic center declined and was gradually abandoned. From the decoration of the monastic complexes it is certain that there was an artistic influence from the nearby important centers of the Byzantine Empire but also from the capital, Constantinople. In most of them, the buildings of the complexes are partially preserved in a dilapidated condition.
Access is from the villages of Lenos and Polyanthos via forest roads.
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