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Modern Description: The main track turns north across the plateau of Armenochori, one of the few sheltered areas of meagre fertility in upland Exo Nisi, which has been inhabited since prehistoric times: the finds from two Mycenaean chamber-tombs in Armenochori are displayed in the Museum in Chora. At c. 12 km, just as the road begins to descend south from the plateau, on the rise to the west, is the chapel of the Aghii Saranda (dedicated to the ‘Forty Martyrs' of Sebaste – Roman legionaries who were martyred in Armenia for their faith, under the persecutions of Licinius around 320 AD), beside a modern square building, with another small chapel at a distance in the field below. Though recently reconstructed, the church of the Aghii Saranda incorporates many ancient blocks from a pagan building which must have stood on the same site or nearby – most notably the monolithic, marble column fragment (over 1m high), which constitutes the right-hand door-post.
DARE: 28935

Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands

(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)

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