Church of Agios Spyridon

Agios Spyridon is a small barrel-vaulted church near the harbour, easy to walk past without noticing — its claim on history is engraved into the stone of its doorway, where a chip in the surround marks the assassination of Greece's first governor.

The interior preserves a set of nineteenth-century icons and, by long tradition, a series of relics including organs of saints kept in glass reliquaries. Look for the unusual carved hexagrams on the iconostasis. Open during morning services; otherwise ring the bell at the side door.

things to do church sight
A story
On 27 September 1831, Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first head of state of independent Greece, was assassinated on the steps of this church as he arrived for the morning service. The mark left by the bullet that missed him is still visible in the doorway.

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