Byzantine church in Albania showing its true colors

The first phase in the restoration of the Byzantine Church of Saint Nicholas in Mesopotam (or Mesopotamos in Greek), a predominantly ethnic Greek village in southern Albania, has been completed, Greece's Culture Ministry has announced.

The project is part of a cooperation agreement signed in September 2021 between the Thessaloniki-based European Center for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments and the Albanian Ministry of Culture for the restoration of the church's frescoes, marble elements and floor.

The first phase involved investigative incisions across all surfaces of the church up to a height of 8 meters, followed by extensive removal of later plaster and lime coatings. A notable discovery during the process was a large section of the fresco decoration that had previously been obscured.

Believed to have been built in 1224 or 1225 church is part of a now...