Panagia Episkopi

The Panagia Episkopi is the previous middle-Byzantine cathedral of the Greek Cycladean island of Santorini. It is also called Panagia tis Episkopis or Church of Episkopi Thiras. According to a traditional, now almost completely destroyed inscription, the church building was commissioned by the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos at the end of the 11th century, and took the place of a previous three-aisled early Byzantine basilica. The church was dedicated to the Panagia, a Greek Orthodox appellation for the Virgin Mary. The second part of the name means "episcopal". The Panagia Episkopi was the seat of the Orthodox diocese of Santorini until 1207 and from 1537 to 1827.