Churches of Christ the Savior and St. John

Just outside the old acropolis of Eleutherna, two small Byzantine churches stand close together, one dedicated to Christ the Saviour and the other to St. John. Their stonework and modest scale speak to the long, quiet centuries after antiquity, when this hilltop city had shrunk to a village. Dated to 796, they are simple in plan, with a plain dome and a narthex, typical of the regional Byzantine tradition. Standing here, you sense how faith took root in the ruins of a grander past, in buildings scaled to a small and enduring community.