Modern Description:
Inland of Rína is a network of lanes between high whitewashed walls, stately stone houses, and gardens bursting with pomegranate, olive, citrus trees and vines, and punctuated with rose-bushes and cypress. Eight hundred metres in from the harbour-front, to the right of the road on the lower slopes of the hill, just above the line of cultivation, are the remains of a remarkable structure known as ‘Phylakés'. It is constructed of massive rectangular blocks of the local sedimentary stone measuring as much as 190cm x 75cm, which create a chambered structure about 10m x 6m. There is evidence of cutting in the bedrock in the area behind and to the east side, where more huge blocks are visible. The position is good for surveying the surrounding cultivations, and the walls must represent what remains of a heavily fortified farmstead of the late Classical or Hellenistic period, probably endowed with a surveying tower originally. From here, it is possible to cross the fields to the west via the church of Aghios Panteleimon, to the site of the fine 5th century remains known as ‘Palaiopanaghiá'—though an easier route to it lies by going further inland along the road and to the right at the first junction. There are substantial remains here— both of the building's lower walls (occasionally plastered and painted), and of the floor mosaics. From their simple bold geometric designs, executed in four main colours (two reds, two whites, two blues, and black) these would seem to be the work of the 5th century AD. Where there is no mosaic, there are marble flagstones. The main basilica is a spacious building with three long aisles, once delineated by slender columns (one example in Proconnesian marble lies to the west, adding to the impression of the expensive materials lavished on this early church.) To the north is a large baptistery with a cruciform stepped font, clad in marble, sunk into the floor: the base of a ciborium can be seen on its east side. A curiosity here lies in the unusual antechamber to the baptistery which has a quatrefoil plan and a mosaic floor. The step in the passage between this and the north aisle of the main basilica, is made of a piece of carved marble templon screen from an earlier building, and suggests that this room was added or rebuilt at a later date.
Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands 
(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)
