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Patsideros: The Virgin Mary churches in Rouma

At the base of the hill where the ruined settlement of Rouma is built, we find two Byzantine churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The first one honors Zoodochos Pigi (Life-giving Spring). The stone-built temple is not wall-painted and bears an engraved inscription on its western door. Just above it, we see the characteristic panels of the churches of the Byzantine period. Inside the temple, an impressive arcosolium, with beautiful stone-carved plant decoration, is probably the burial place of the founder of the church or of the feudal lord of the neighboring Rouma. 

The second temple, which is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, was built around the 14th century in a spot full of oaks and plane trees, rich in water. Tradition has it that there was a nunnery there during the Venetian rule. Its nuns are said to have died from the plague that struck the area. Later, monks from Agios Georgios Epanosifis settled in the monastery, building cells and other facilities, few traces of which are preserved to this day. In the interior of the church, only fragments of the mural decoration survive, which we see in the sanctuary and the main area of the temple.