Metochi of the Holy Sepulcher (Holy Church of Saints Anargyroi)

At the northern foot of Acropolis, at the junction of Erechtheos and Prytaneio streets, the holy church of Saint Anargyroi is located, better known as Metochi of the Holy Sepulcher / Tomb or Agiotafitiko Metochi. With its picturesque courtyard and the neighboring simple neoclassical building where the Exarchate of the Holy Sepulcher is based, it is one of the most beautiful places in Plaka, which is closely connected to the celebration of the Resurrection, as the Holy Light from Jerusalem first arrives here every year. The temple was built in the 17th century, in a place where during ancient times, there was a temple of the goddess Aphrodite. It was the catholicon of a monastery founded in 1651 by the priest Dimitrios Kolokynthis, scion of a well-known Athenian family, to whom the land belonged. In fact, it is stated in documents that he dedicated all his property to the monastery. The commune was initially female and later became male. With the siege of the Acropolis by the Italian admiral Morosini, in 1687, the monastery was deserted. In 1760, it was bought by Archimandrite Iakovos, an exarch of the Holy Sepulcher in Athens at the time and became a Metochi of the Holy Sepulcher. Since then, the respective exarch lived in its cells until 1858, when the seat of the Exarch of the Holy Sepulcher was built. In the area of the monastery there were also the tombs of members of the Greek imperial family of Paleologues. The church is a single-aisled arched basilica with a porch and a gyneconite in the chancel. On the north side of the roof rises the white marble spire which was built later and has strong classicist elements. Ancient architectural elements have also been used in the construction of its walls, while several ancient remains of the area are gathered in the courtyard, witnesses of its long history. A row of the cells of the old monastery, a well, and one of the old municipal gas lanterns that lit the streets of the city are still preserved.