Description

The Church of Pantanassa (Queen of all) Mother of God, was a privately owned Temple of the rich Athenian of the time Nikolaos Bonefatzis. Later it was transformed into a katholikon of a nunnery, whose buildings covered the entire square, which is why it was also called the “Great Monastery“.

Over time, however, its decline began, as a result of which it was eventually transformed into a part of the Kaisariani Monastery and later into a parish church. Since then, the Church of Pantanassa acquired the nickname “Monastiraki” (small Monastery).

The Holy Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Pantanassa is probably the oldest Church in Athens, although the views of experts on the exact century of their construction are contradictory, in the absence of written historical sources.

This is mainly due to the extensive interventions that took place during the Turkish occupation, but also in recent years and significantly altered the form of the Temple.