The first phase of a study for the renovation and development of St Nicholas Church in Splantzia Square in Chania has recently been completed. The work is proceeding on schedule, and while the first phase comprised a full documentation of the church in its current state, the second phase will include the proposal of definitive technical solutions.
The church of St Nicholas in Splantzia Square bears the marks of three different religions and is unique in having both a bell tower and a minaret. The original bell tower was located at the north-east side of the church, but it did not survive. The mosque housed the sword of the Turkish Dervish, who when Chania fell to the Turks was the first to enter the city, climbed the bell tower and with his sword circled the four points of the horizon, calling the faithful to prayer with the phrase: “There is only one God and his prophet is Mohammed “. Kept in a gold case adorned with precious stones, the sword was considered sacred by the locals. (Wikipedia) Photo: Avra City Hotel.
As the scientific director of the research project, Professor Nikos Skoutelis of the Technical University of Crete, told Haniotika Nea, the study was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture’s Directorate for the Restoration of Byzantine Monuments on 15th March and the first phase was delivered within three months. This phase comprised the documentation of the historic, geometric, structural and geological features of the church, a full classification of the materials and its building history, and proposals for its development. “The first phase of the study also contains general proposals of a preliminary nature for the stabilisation and development of this historic monument,” the professor said.
St Nicholas is one of the most notable monuments of Crete, since as Mr Skoutelis said, “An important fact relating to this monument is that it uniquely contains elements of three religious traditions, the two Christian faiths and the Islamic, which run through its history.” Originally founded in 1205, it was completed in 1320 as the church of a monastery of the Dominican Order. Following the conquest of Crete by the Turks in 1645 it was turned into a mosque and an impressive minaret with two circular balconies was added. After Cretan independence it became an Orthodox church in 1918. A new bell tower was added on the north side in 1956.
The modern bell tower, which has been designated a monument by a decision of the Central Archaeological Committee, will be included in the works of stabilisation. Also examined in Phase 1 were issues of moisture ingress, roof improvements and overall indications for the exterior of the church.
The next stage of the project will be to provide technical solutions for the various problems which have been recorded. “Phase 2 will incorporate the final technical solutions for all those significant problems,” the scientific director said, emphasising that “the aesthetic problem of all the different constructions” will be addressed. As regards the progress of the project, Mr Skoutelis appeared optimistic, saying that work is proceeding according to schedule.
Finally Mr Skoutelis expressed the thanks of the team from the Technical University of Crete to Titus, Metropolitan of Kydonia and Apokoronas, the vicar of St Nicholas Church Father Dimitris Liolios, and the verger Giorgos Iliakis for their continual assistance with the project.
The work is being carried out with a grant from the Ministry of Culture to the Laboratory for Documentation and Restoration of Historic Buildings at the Technical University of Crete, of which Mr Skoutelis is the director, under the supervision of the Ministry’s Directorate for the Restoration of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments.
Leaders of the other work teams are:
Klimis Aslanidis, Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture, Technical University of Crete;
Konstantinos Providakis, Professor at the Technical University of Crete;
Noni Maravelaki, chemist, Professor at the School of Architecture, Technical University of Crete;
Maria Stavroulaki, civil engineer, Professor at the Technical University of Crete;
Giorgios Stavroulakis, civil engineer, Professor at the Technical University of Crete.
(Haniotika Nea, 18/07/26)