Church of Christ the Savior

Church of Saint Basil and Christ the Saviour In the small settlement of Vavouledo, near Palia Roumata, stands a historic church complex whose oldest section is dedicated to Christ the Saviour. The church preserves fragments of 15th-century Byzantine wall paintings. A later section of the complex adjoins the original building and is associated with the dedication to Saint Basil. An important record of the church's history is the dedicatory inscription on its western wall. It commemorates the renovation and painting of the church, financed through the efforts of Leon Vavoulaias, his wife Sophia and their children. Earlier scholarship dated this work to 1461, but a reassessment of the inscription published in 2004 indicates the year 1468. Despite extensive damage, fragments of an elaborate iconographic programme remain identifiable inside the church. These include the Hospitality of Abraham, scenes from the life of Christ such as the Betrayal of Judas and the Ascension, prophets depicted on a transverse vault arch, and mounted saints in the lower registers of the walls. Remains of an image of the Virgin Mary also survive in the apse conch. The church at Vavouledo is a notable example of late Byzantine monumental painting on Crete. Although many of its frescoes have suffered considerable deterioration, the surviving fragments still reveal the richness of the iconographic programme of a small rural church and preserve the memory of those who contributed to its renovation more than five and a half centuries ago.