All about Zakynthos

The church was built to execute the will of the priest Michael Agapitos, who came as a refugee to Zakynthos after the fall of Crete to the Turks in 1669, bringing with him important relics, the most important being the icon of Panagia Gorgoepikoos. The church did not burn in August 1953 and its important works of art now adorn the Zakynthos Museum. The most memorable are The enthroned Christ, work of Angelos, St. John the Baptist, the work of Michael Damaskinos, the six large icons inspired by the life of the Virgin Mary, the works of Nikolaos Koutouzis, who made them when he was the parish priest of the church, and the works of Stylianos Stavrakis. During the Venetian rule, the guild of shoemakers met here. After the earthquakes, its carved and gilded iconostasis was transferred to Agios Nikolaos of Xenon (Metropolis).