The oldest church
of Perista was build upon a small piece of land that, since its
construction, altered so much that the foundation on the west side
of the building needed to be strengthened. The roof was covered
up until 1953 with large stone tiles, after which it was replaced
with French tiles.
Also in 1953, all of the walls were rebuilt
and strengthened from the foundation up, with the exception of the
eastern face of the building, which was not touched because that
is where the inner sanctuary of the church is located.
ear 1748
The exact date of the church's construction is unknown, but
estimates put it at a few hundred years old. |
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The hand -made wooden Templo
of the old church St. Athanasios was created in the year
1748 |
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We do know that
the wooden icon stand was carved in 1748, and a recipe-book for
practical magic spells and folk medicine remedies was found in
the church's library, dated somewhere in the sixteenth century.
There are remains of an older church
- possibly also dedicated to St. Athanasios - located under the
southern face of the building. ????
Peristians at
the time could afford to build a second church (now known as the
"old" St. Athanasios"), because of the profitable silkworm trade
that villagers were involved in at the time. They set it a little
farther to the north of the original church, but had it face the
same direction. The ceiling and roof of the second church were
renovated in 1960.
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By far, one of the most beautiful
pieces of artwork in the church is the carved wooden icon stand. It features
themes such as branches, leaves, vines and grapes, birds, snakes holding
branches in their mouths, heads of winged angels, and animals with mythological
forms. |
