A swimming pool unlifted, made of stone, a gold-embroidered image of the epitaph, age at least 700 years, a large picture on the subject of the Second Coming, a gospel of 1840 with silver covers, and many old pictures whose inscriptions are in Cyrillic script (something that refers to Bulgarian hagiographers), are included in the precious relics housed inside the Holy Trinity Church, in Kato Theodoraki of Kilkis. A particularly beautiful temple built in 1804 and from 1983 has been declared a preserved monument. What the people of the village who look after him want is for his importance to be highlighted and for him to be included in the map of religious tourism.
Kato Theodoraki is the birthplace of the late painter and writer Kostas Lacha (Lachanidis), of the man with the tall hat and the gray beard, as well as the late businessman, owner of a television station and a well-known Super Market chain, Vassilis Chiemonidis.
The first of the two, who lived most of his life in Thessaloniki, he did not fail to refer to his place of origin at every opportunity, while in interviews he had admitted that some influences on painting and his subsequent interest in Byzantine art, he accepted them from the images he saw in the church of his village, the Holy Trinity.
The oldest church of Kilkis
"The Church of the Holy Trinity is a three-aisled basilica. It is the oldest operating church in the prefecture of Kilkis and one of the oldest in the country", points out our "tour guide" and owner of a coffee shop in the village square, Kostas Patralis. As it says, speaking to APE-MPE, most of the relics found in the temple were moved on 1922 from refugees who arrived in the area from Pontus. "We still cannot fathom the strength and faith of those people. It is admirable what they achieved and in such adverse conditions they carried such large and heavy heirlooms from their homelands" he says with admiration and emotion.
Showing us the swimming pool, mentions that baptisms took place in it until the 60s and in fact in the same place where it is still today, as it was too heavy to move. The swimming pool is located approximately in the middle of the right side of the temple, in front of a relatively small wooden weight door 350 kg, painted inside with blue oil paint. "We call it the "Holy door" because it resembles those of Mount Athos", explains also on this occasion, it unfolds a pained side about the upkeep of the temple and the objects within it. "In the renovation of the temple that took place 1978, that is, a few years before it was declared a preserved monument, the people involved, apparently out of ignorance, they started to paint everything,what is being painted", says. "This is how they painted the "holy door", they painted walls and columns, as they also painted the pews of the temple, to save them from him… moth. Except that the pews are the same age as the temple and, as you understand, they should be treated differently", comments Mr. Patralis. He remembers that the members of the committee of the 3rd tax office of Byzantine Antiquities who came in 1982 at the initiative of Kostas Lacha for an autopsy in the temple, they talked about… "crime"!
The painters, however, also fell victim to many hagiographies that adorned the walls and columns of the temple. Plaster and lime "buried" priceless works under them. "People didn't even know, Over the years, wanting to take care of her, they went and whitewashed her all", comments our "tour guide" and adds "In recent years, efforts have been made to remove the whitewash and reveal the hagiographies, but that costs a lot. Now some actions are being taken to include the project in some NSRF program. It is estimated that a fund of the order of 30.000 euro".
Gold-embroidered epitaph
And the site tour continues. We don't know what to start with. There are so many "treasures" of the temple and so many things that Mr. Patralis has to say, example of the love he has for his church and village, for his place. Among the precious icons housed in the church of the Holy Trinity is the hand-embroidered epitaph brought by the refugees from Stavrin of Pontus in ΄22. "And them", as he remembers the elders telling him, "they had inherited it from their own grandparents". It is hung on the left wall of the temple, on the part of women. It is estimated that it is at least 700 years.
The Second Coming
To the right, entering the temple, the visitor sees a large and impressive painting on the subject of the Second Coming. "A university professor who visited the temple years ago, he told us that there is nothing like her anywhere", says Mr. Patralis. The same professor had told them that "there is one, but much smaller in size, in a monastery in Russia".
The only intervention made to the image, according to Mr. Patralis is that the red flame that exists approximately in the middle of it has been refreshed by the hagiographers. This is the reason why its color appears more intense than,what about the others.
"It was a dark picture when they decided to clean it up. When they took her I was a child, 5-6 years. They packed her, they sealed her with corkscrews and took her away with a police escort", Mr. Patralis remembers.
Wherever he turns his gaze, The,whatever he sees, he has something to tell us. This is how we learn how:
1. The temple was built in 1804 but the iconostasis 1807 and the bell tower 1817.
2. The stairs you go down to enter the church were built later because the Bulgarians used to enter the church with their horses and cause problems. So the locals replaced the inclined ramp that existed until then with stairs, so that the horses cannot dismount.
3. In total 15 icons of the church are in Cyrillic script.
4. Bulgarian icons are of a completely different style. Among them are two pictures, placed high on the iconostasis. They are "The Resurrection" and "The Betrayal of Judas". These images have been made by a Bulgarian artist. The differences in the form of the saints in these images are obvious.
5. The temple had a gynekonite but it was demolished 1960 for the boards had begun to rot and there was danger of collapse and injury.
6. A few years after its construction and for approx 50 years the temple functioned as a monastery (1820-1870)
7. The temple has terrible acoustics because broken bricks have also been placed inside its walls, as Mr. Patralis says, they help to better transfer the sound. according to him: "When the priests sing without a microphone the sound is wonderful. It's like you're in a theater!»
8. There is a photo of him 1915 which was found in a Paris museum and shows, in the background the village church and in front French soldiers who came to the area as a peacekeeping force to make the Bulgarians leave. A copy of the photo hangs in the cafe in the square.
Safekeeping
With so many precious treasures one can reasonably wonder: How are so many rare heirlooms kept?; As it seems, Nevertheless, the guards have knowledge! Their security is based on modern alarm systems but also on the personal interest of each fellow villager. "Each one of us and all of us together are the guardians of our church!says Mr. Patralis, as he turns off the temple lights.
The tour is over!
Omitted: In a discussion that followed in the village square, it became known that the newest church of the Holy Trinity in the Prefecture of Kilkis is that of Ai-Georgis. It works from 1817!
A few facts about Kato Theodoraki
The village is located near the border of the Prefecture of Kilkis with the Prefecture of Serres. Together with Ano Theodoraki they form the local community of Kato Theodoraki. It belongs to the municipal unit of Krousso of the Municipality of Kilkis. It's far away 75 kilometers from Thessaloniki and 25 from the city of Kilkis. After the Balkan wars and the exchange of populations they settled there 104 refugee families from Pontus regions. Today the permanent residents are estimated at approx 60 in the winter, number that in the summer increases to 150. Most are pensioners of the OGA. Few are still engaged in agriculture. From 2009 the main street of the village is called: "Kosta Lacha Street" and the central square: "Vassilis Heimonidis Square".