The reassessment of two byzantine churches at Sofiko, Corinthia

Abstract

The churches of the Hypapante and of St. Antonios at Sofiko, Corinthia had been dated by A. Orlandos to the 17th-18^th century. In the present article the irre-dating to the 13^th century is suggested, based on morphological and constructional elements. They belong to a peculiar variant of the cross-in-square domed church, where the transverse cross arm is narrower and slightly higher in  relation to the longitudinal one. The north and south arms of the cross are covered by low arches as to avoid excessive elevation of the transverse cross arm. This specific variation, for which the term “cross-in-square with unequal cross arm widths” is suggested, seems to have been more widely used in Byzantine church construction than previously thought. Finally, the neighboring churches of the Koimesis and the Taxiarchs are re-dated to the 13^th century. These four monuments at Sofiko appear to be works of the same building workshop, which was active in the third quarter of the 13^th century.