The town of Burgaz is dominated by the massive Church of Aya Yani or the Church of Agios Ioannis Prodromos (John the Baptist). It is built on the foundations of a Byzantine church with extensive vaults beneath. These included the dungeon in which Methodius is said to have been imprisoned for seven years by Emperor Michael II for worship of icons. Happily for Methodius, the Emperor Michael died and was replaced by Theophilus, every bit as iconoclastic as his predecessor, but with a significantly rosier opinion of the dungeon-dweller. Methodius was allowed to resume his position of importance in the church. On the fall of iconoclasm, he became Patriarch.
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The church of Aya Yani dominates the town of Burgaz.
The current church rose in its domed magnificence in 1896 and remains the most impressive religious building on Burgaz, being far bigger than the island’s single mosque which was not built until 1953.
The highest hill on Burgaz is Bayraktepe, renamed from Isa Tepe (Christ hill) in Republican times. On the top is a crumbling house with the best view in the islands. This is where the caretaker of the Monastery of the Transfiguration (Burgazada Metamorfosis Hristos Manastırı) lives. There is a 19th century Church of Christ standing in the ruins of the 9th century monastery.
The remaining walls of the Monastery of the Transfiguration.
Arch on the highest part of the ninth century wall
Column capitals beside the caretaker's house
Capitals to the east of the monastery
Sarcophagus on the boundary of the monastery grounds
Marble pieces from the Monastery of the Transfiguration
A Byzantine bird
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