Archaeological & Religious Sites Gjirokaster

The church of St. Nicholas, Saraqinisht

The Church of St. Nicholas in Saraqinisht, is situated in the village suburb at a dominating point, looking toward the ancient city of Antigonea. It is one of the most important post-Byzantine buildings in the area, valued for its architecture and wall paintings. The monument was built in 1630 and has crossed-dome architecture. The volume has a longitudinal development and the narthex, constructed at a second stage, is very distinctive externally. The church is covered by slate-roofs, typical for the area. The dome drum it is quite high and gives elegance to the construction, although the sandstone building technique of the walls is simple. The building serves as a cemetery church. During the construction, ancient stone columns taken from Antigonea were used. They were placed inside the porch and one of them in the courtyard. The paintings were made by Mihal Linotope, son of Constantine and student of Nicholas, in 1630 or 1631. The porch was painted by Onufer Chypriot in 1622, who also painted the icons and iconostasis.