Architecture of Zakynthos – Churches

During the ancient times, the island’s capital was not situated at its present location, at Aigialos, but at the Castle’s hill. Up to the 15^th century, an entire settlement was situated within the Castle. This settlement, of clear medieval form, with narrow and mazy streets, was surrounded by walls. Today, only remains of this small town are saved, the greatest part of which is covered by a pine-tree forest. No systematic excavations have ever taken place at the Castle of Zakynthos; however, we know that the settlement had already begun to decline since the 15^th century. We must note an impressive fact: there were about ten churches within the Castle, where religious ceremonies were conducted.

After the coming of the Venetians to Zakynthos, the Castle remained the administrative and religious centre of the island; however it no longer covered the needs of the islanders. This is why the settlement was moved to Aigialos. Gradually, the area begun to develop and to expand, however, the growing needs of the inhabitants combined with the limited extent of the area, forced the inhabitants to extend the town towards the sea, which was the only possible outlet. Actually, the Aigialos area was surrounded by islets, near which the water was shallow and marshy.

Thus, successive land filling activities took place without particular structural planning, following the specific needs of the inhabitants. A typical example of these land filling activities is the church of Saint Nikolaos of Molos, which was built in 1571, and was originally linked to the land by a bridge. The areas of Solomos Square and Ammos were the last to be filled in with earth, at the end of the 19^th century, and thus the town of Zakynthos acquired its final form.

After the destructive earthquake-fire of 1953, that flattened the entire island, the only buildings left standing were the church of Saint Dionysios, which was built in 1948, the building of the National Bank, the school of Ammos and a few more buildings. Due to the stringent financial situation Greece was in at the time, the island’s reconstruction did not take place according to the architectural order of the island before the earthquake, and many of its architectural jewels were lost for good. Photographs of Zakynthos before the quake represent sublime buildings, mansions, churches, unadorned houses and narrow streets following the typical architectural patterns of the Ionian Islands that were devastated in 1953.

However, in today’s Zakynthos, there many beautiful buildings are still standing, most of which are churches. There is a large number of churches, found both at the island’s capital and the countryside. The Venetians had a great influence on the architecture of the churches in Zakynthos; nevertheless they did not manage to convert the inhabitants of the island to Catholicism. On the contrary, the locals were singularly devout and expressed love and fond devoting respect towards Orthodoxy, which they never renounced.

In the town of Zakynthos, one must definitely visit the church of Saint Dionysios, the town’s largest church, in order to see magnificent frescoes created by Doxaras, and the silver reliquary of Saint Dionysios, which was created by a silversmith called Bafas. At the church of Saint Nikolaos of Molos, a building of Venatian order at Solomos Square that once belonged to the Association of Seamen, one will find the canonicals of Saint Dionysios, who used to officiate at the church for a certain period. At the square of Saint Markos, one will find the homonymous church, which is the only Catholic church on the island. It is also worth visiting the church of Faneromeni, the Lady of Angels, and Saint Nikolaos ton Xenon, which is the cathedral of Zakynthos.

On the rest of the island, one may visit the church of Santa Maura at Maherado, in order to see its wonderful frescoes and belfry; the church of Saint Nikolaos at Kiliomeno, with an equally wonderful belfry separated from the church by a street; the church of Panagia (Virgin Mary) Keriotissa, with its large belfry at the village of Keri; the monastery of Saint Georgios ton Krimnon at Anafonitria and many more small or large churches and monasteries dispersed around the island.