English: The ruins of the Church of Saint Nicholas or Seraphim on the North Slope of the Acropolis. View from Theorias Street.

"It was probably built in the first period of Turkish domination (1458-1687). The church is of the cross-in-square type with a dome supported on four monolithic columns with bases and capitals of the Ionic order in second use, while the floor was paved with stone slabs.

The central entrance of the church was a stone door flame with carved decoration restored in 2001, and at the right doorway, as in all apertures, there are pointed arches. The south aisle (sacristy), with groin-vaults. In its niche, there was a wall painting with the symbol of the cross. In the south-west corner of the church, itself can be distinguished as an angled porous- stoned niche of Turkish type with 'stalactite' decor. The church, despite late alterations and additions, preserves, in certain parts of its wall construction, the cloisonne masonry, a system with thin tiles and thick mortar.

In its original phase, the church served as the central place of worship (?Katholikon? ) for a small monastic community, of which there are preserved, immediately on the west: the cistern, the water tanks, the fountain, the courtyard, as well as the vaulted rooms on the southwest side of the 'katholikon,' which served as a section of an arched colonnade on the ground-floor that today has mostly disappeared. In the 18th century, a section of the Hypapanti Fortification Wall was constructed joining the east side of the church, which also was converted into a bastion with battlements securing the north gate of the wall, the well-known "Bastion of the Lion."

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

Link: http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=19814