Monastery of St. George Arma

The Monastery of St George Arma stands 8 km east of Fylla, 20 km from Halkida. Only the katholikon survives; the rest of the complex succumbed to destruction. The foundation date is uncertain: an inscription on the outer eastern wall gives the year 7145 from the creation of the world, which corresponds to 1637. This date may also explain the name ‘Arma’, as a phonetic paraphrase of the Greek letters ZRME (the year’s numerical notation). The church is a cross-in-square, four-column type (tetrakionion). The dome is supported by four columns taken from an ancient pagan temple, and other spolia are also built into the fabric. Near the monastery, at the Argyrou site, remains of an ancient cemetery were found, reused in early Christian times.