Church of Agios Nikolaos Orphanos

   The nucleus of the rectangular church is a long timber-roofed chamber with a U-shaped ambulatory along the three sides and a triconch sanctuary at the east. The marble iconostasis is preserved almost intact as well as a considerable amount of the painted decoration, which has been dated to 1310-1320 and is of a very high aristic quality.
   The church was the catholicon (main church) of a monastery, dated to the early 14th century A.D. The name is related either to the philanthropic works of St. Nicholas for the sake of the orphans, or to the probable founder of the monastery, a member of the Byzantine Orphanos family. According to another suggestion, the church was founded by the Serbian kral, Milutin. It is actually a metochion (dependence) of the Vlatades Monastery and it functioned as a church even during the Turkish occupation.
   Excavations on the interior of the church were conducted in 1959-60 and again, in 1971, at the propylon.
   The monument was restored in 1959-60. The monument is used as a church.