(about 10 minutes from Kaizer Agrotourism)
Descending southeast from the village of Galataria towards Xeropotamos, at about 3 kilometers, you come across the stone-built, vaulted, rock-hugging chapel of Agios Nikolaos.
It is a small, modest temple with internal dimensions of 7.90X3.12 m. without the arch. The arch is semi-circular and has a chord of 2.30 m and an arrow of 1.12 m. The temple has two heavy wooden entrances, the first in the middle of the south wall and the second in the middle of the west wall. The bell tower, also wooden, is located at the foot of the rocky composition.
Inside the church, dated to the first half of the 16th century, you admire with religious awe the wonderful medieval frescoes that adorn a part of it. The frescoes decorate the apse, the eastern part of the temple up to the arch and the western wall.
Despite the deterioration brought about by the ravages of time, the Department of Antiquities has managed to do a very good job of restoration. Standing, in a posture of supplication, the Virgin Mary is depicted in the quadrant of the arch with the archangels Michael and Gabriel surrounding her. On the semicircular wall of the apse are depicted the Society of the Apostles and the hierarchs Cyril, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, Basil, Gregory the Theologian and Spyridon. The Great Humiliation is depicted on the small clam of the Intention and on the eastern wall Saint Athanasios (the Pentaschinite). At the eastern end of the south wall, inside the pulpit, are depicted, from top to bottom, the Annunciation of the Virgin, the Hospitality of Abraham, i.e. the Holy Trinity, and Saint Stephen the First Martyr. On the step opposite, at the eastern end of the north wall, the Three Children on the Camino are depicted above, the Sacrifice of Abraham below and an unidentified holy deacon in a small alcove.
On the south wall, outside the step, the archangel Michael is depicted in a large fresco and on the north side of his foot arch the apostle Paul holding the Gospel. Opposite, on the north wall, Saint Nicholas and the apostle Andrew are painted, and on the south side of the foot arch the apostle Peter holding the keys of Paradise. Saint Mamas is depicted on the northern part of the western wall. The church of Agios Nikolaos is a cultural asset for the region. In this remote area which possesses natural beauty of wild vegetation, it is always open to the pious pilgrim who will take refuge to feel tranquility and religious rapture!!
