Church of Saint George

The church stands away from the road, on the outskirts of the abandoned part of Komitades, accessible only on foot — some 800–1000 metres through terrain dotted with beehives and rock formations. A small single-nave building, originally with a narthex that has since collapsed. It is one of the very few Cretan churches with a certain date and a certain painter. The dedicatory inscription, preserved in situ to the right of the entrance, records everything precisely: the church was built in the year 6822 from the creation of the world, that is 1313/1314, in the twelfth indiction. The frescoes were executed by the hand of Ioannis Pagomenos himself. The donors were Manuel Skordylis with his family, Fimi Skordylis, Kali Vlastoudena with her children — the latter from the Vlasto family, one of the most prominent Cretan dynasties of the Venetian period — Anna Tzinaropolis with her children, Manuel Faropoulos with his family, the monk Kallinikos, and the monk Gerasimos Fourogiorgis, as well as — in the words of the inscription — "others whose names the Lord alone knows." Above the portraits of the two principal donors on the south wall, inscriptions survive: Δέησις τοῦ δούλου τοῦ Θεοῦ Μανοὴλ ὁ Σκορδίλης and Δέησις τοῦ δούλου τοῦ Θεοῦ μοναχοῦ Γερασίμου τοῦ Φορογιώργι. The iconographic programme includes a hagiographic cycle of Saint George — his martyrdom and scenes from his life — alongside the Christological cycle: the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Holy Women at the Tomb, the Raising of Lazarus, the Baptism, the Nativity, the Ascension, and the Annunciation. Among the individual figures: the Archangel Michael, Saint Anastasia, Saint Demetrios, hierarchs, and Saint Sophia. This is the earliest securely dated church by Ioannis Pagomenos. The church is active and accessible.