| * AGHIOI APOSTOLOI |
|
Destroyed in
the great mudslide of 1917, this church was one of Perista's oldest. Located
near the Perivoli fountain, it could only fit a few people at a time and
had a tile roof. V. Valaoras described the great natural disaster in his
book The Village Doctor: "The first rains fell late that year, but they continued without stopping until March of the next year. Rivers and streams overflowed, and the earth everywhere was thoroughly seeped, so much so that it became unstable and began to slide, with tragic consequences for Perista. By mid-February of 1917, the first deep fissure had appeared on the landscape, widening and lengthening between houses, near the little church of the Apostles. In a few days the church was gone, as if swallowed by the earth. Slowly and without mercy, the terrible fissure grew towards the center of the village, taking with it sheds, gates, and homes, and filled the village's fresh water fountains with mud, drying them up or causing the water to become undrinkable.The fissure extended to the village square and the old St. Athanasios, where it collapsed three large walls and the lower portion of the church. It finally stopped at the cemetery of Aghia Paraskevi, but only after threatening the school building and the new church.The people were terrified of this great natural disaster, which threatened their entire village, and frantically said prayers and lit candles to the saints, pleading for the salvation of their village." The new church of the Apostles was built in 1936, on a wide, stable expanse of land in Mirtzani. It is maintained in good condition and is constantly being renovated; most of its icons are from recent years. Two plaques adorn the church walls. One reads "Holy Church of the Apostles, Vasilios T. Kefaliakos 1936." A monument to Kostas Kefaliakos, a hero from the battle of Mesologgi, stands in front of the church, and in 1960 an icon depicting the Apostles was erected near the public road. A plaque for it reads "In memory of Ioannis and Vasiliskis Pitouras. " "O Holy Apostles, intercede
to our merciful God, |
