Agariones

The village of Kariones is mentioned in a codex of the Pantokratoros monastery in the year 1396, which led some to assume that it got its name from the existence of walnuts, despite the fact that walnuts do not grow in the area. The area of Laktovoidi, to the north of Agariones, is mentioned in a chrysobull (an imperial document granting privileges bearing a gold seal (bulla)) of 1355 as the property of the monastery of Philotheos. The site then became a Turkish tsiflik or estate that was purchased by rich Egyptians.

Conze paid a visit to the village in 1858, when he discovered marble fragments in an orchard where he sought refuge from the sun. Only the chapels of Agios Athanasios and Agios Paraskevi remain now. Agios Paraskevi features marble incorporated into the brickwork and an inscription stating, “ESTATE OF ANTONIS VELISARIDI ON AUGUST 20… 192…”.  An 1858 icon by the hagiographer Efstratios Imvriou may be found within the chapel.

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