Hosios Loukas

   Monastery dedicated to Loukas the Younger (q.v.), located in central Greece (q.v.) in the foothills of Mount Hellikon, not far from Delphi. The two churches there include a cross-in-square church (q.v.) dedicated to the Theotokos (q.v.), built between 946 and 955 by the strategos (q.v.) of the theme of Hellas (qq.v.). Next to it is the more sumptuous katholikon (q.v.), constructed ca. 1011 by an unknown patron. Noteworthy is the large dome (q.v.), almost nine meters in diameter, that rests on an octagonal base created by squinches (q.v.). The interior decoration of the katholikon, which is exceptionally rich in mosaics (q.v.) and in marble-revetted walls, is the oldest of any intact Middle Byzantine (10th-12th century) church.