The Church of Aghios Athanasios of Mytilini

The Metropolitan Church of Mytilini is located in the historic center of the city and is dedicated to Aghios Athanasios. It dates to the end of the 16^th or the beginning of the 17^th century. This church was designated as the Metropolitan Church of Mytilini by Metropolitan of Mytilini Nikodemos Ainazis (1708-1722). It belongs to the cruciform three-aisled, vaulted basilica type. This church’s bell tower is an impressive monumental building, 33 m tall, built in 1882 with profound gothic features. Both the church and the bell tower are built with chiseled stones extracted from the Sarmosak quarry. On the inside the church is adorned with Renaissance-style wall paintings painted by Lesvian painter Vasileios Kesaklis in 1901. The altarpiece is one of the most beautiful examples of post-Byzantine woodwork art in Lesvos. The altar table and the bishop throne belong to the same period and adhere to the same artistic approach. The portable icons on the altarpiece include the impressive icon of Jesus Christ painted in the 16^th century in Asia Minor. The church relics include a gold thread-woven epitrachelion worn by Ecumenical Patriarch Ioannikios II and a reliquary with small relic fragments of various Orthodox Church saints.