Church of Prophet Elijah

Prophet Elijah in Trachiniakos — a church in a cemetery A kilometre west of the Church of Saint John the Theologian, on a small rise above the road through Trachiniakos, stands the Church of Prophet Elijah. Next to it — a small cemetery, a dozen or so gravestones. From the outside, nothing promises what lies within. The plain stone walls without ornament are not neglect — they are the standard of the Selino province. In the fourteenth century this part of western Crete was densely scattered with small churches built by village families who pooled resources for the frescoes and inscribed their names in foundation texts. Here there is no inscription — but the frescoes remain. In the conch of the apse, a Deesis dominates: Christ with the Gospels at the centre, the Virgin to his left, John the Baptist to his right. Below, a band of Church Fathers in medallions. The barrel vault carries a full Christological cycle: the Nativity, Baptism, Transfiguration, Last Supper, Betrayal, Deposition, Descent into Hell, the Myrrh-bearing Women, Ascension. In the blind arcades stand individual figures — Prokopios, the Archangel Michael, Panteleimon, John, Photios. All of this in a space you can take in with a single glance. The colours are still alive. Cracks, losses, the marks of time are visible — but the pigments have not faded. The deep blues of the background and the gold of the haloes hold their ground. The church belongs to the circle of Ioannis Pagomenos — a painter whose workshop was present almost everywhere in Selino during the first half of the fourteenth century. A few hundred metres away, in the Church of Saint John the Theologian, his workshop left an inscription dated 1329. Prophet Elijah in Trachiniakos carries no date — but speaks the same language. The church is open, the site unfenced. The path up the rise may present a challenge for visitors with reduced mobility.