Open Collections

Mann, Justin

Database of Religious History (DRH)

The monastery of Hosios Loukas is located on the slopes of Helicon, near the village of Steiris. The monastery is named after its eponymous saint, St. Luke of Steiris, a local holy man active in Boeotia in the early tenth century. Luke's activities are recorded in an anonymously authored vita that details the life of the saint up until his death in 953. The art and architecture of the monastery firmly places it as one of the crowning achievements of Middle Byzantine design. Widely known for its twin katholika, the monastery's construction is seen as a foundational moment in Byzantine architectural design in Greece. The older of the twin katholika is dedicated to the Theotokos and is the first example of a four-column cross-in-square church on mainland Greece; meanwhile, the current katholikon dedicated to Hosios Loukas is the progenitor of the domed-octagon type of church construction that forms the basis for the so-called 'Helladic' school of architecture. Inside, the Hosios Loukas church is adorned with an exquisite program of gold mosaics that depict the life of Jesus Christ, while the crypt of the monastery is also outfitted with an extensive cycle of paintings. The site continues to be a functioning monastery and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Other

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0438216

Non UBC

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/