
Profitis Elias in Abysoles, Thalames

Profitis Elias is located in Abysoles, near Thalames and is nowadays the cemetery church. It is of a peculiar architectural type, where the longitudinal axis of the nave is interrupted by a narrow, taller transverse barrel-vault. In the middle of this vault rises a cylindrical dome. Various explanations have been proposed for this type, the most accepted being that it is a transitional form between the cross-in-square and the cross-vaulted types. The outer surfaces are plain, with extensive use of hewn poros blocks for the masonry and the window arches; an exception is the bilobe arch of the three-sided apse, which is built with bricks. The monument has been dated to the late 12th or 13th centuries. The fragmentary wall paintings in the interior are dated to the late 13th or 14th centuries.