Panagia Ekatontapiliani

The church of Panagia Ekatontapiliani stands in the middle of Parikia, the port town of Paros, and it is among the most important Byzantine monuments in the Aegean. The name means Church of the Hundred Doors, and an old legend says that the building has a hundred doors of which only ninety-nine can be seen. According to the story, the hundredth door will open when Constantinople returns to Christian hands and the Holy Church of Hagia Sophia is restored. The older form of the name, Katapoliani, is also in use and is usually explained as meaning the church by the town.

Tradition says that the first church was founded in the fourth century by Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, who is said to have stopped on Paros during her journey to the Holy Land. The building seen today was erected mainly in the sixth century in the time of Justinian. A story preserved in local tradition names the architect as Ignatios, a pupil of Isidore of Miletus, who built Hagia Sophia, and says that the master grew so jealous that he tried to harm his student. Historians treat the tale as legend, but it is part of how the island talks about the church.

The complex is larger than a single building. The main church is a cross-in-square basilica with a dome, galleries and marble columns, some of which probably came from earlier ancient buildings on the island. Attached to it are a smaller chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas and a separate early Christian baptistery, whose cross-shaped font is one of the oldest of its kind in Greece. The interior is lit by small windows and filled with icons, carved wood and a post-Byzantine iconostasis, while the courtyard is shaded by trees and surrounded by whitewashed buildings.

Paros marble, famed in antiquity, is visible in the floors and architectural elements. The island was a major source of the marble used for sculpture across the Greek world, so it is fitting that its principal church is built in stone from its own quarries.

The church remains active, and the high point of the year is the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August, when pilgrims arrive from across the Cyclades and services run through the day. Modest dress is expected, and visitors should be quiet during services. Opening hours are best checked on the day. The church sits close to the harbour, the old Venetian kastro and the Archaeological Museum of Paros, so it fits easily into a walk around Parikia.