Apsinthiotissa Monastery: consolidation soundings

During consolidation of the Apsinthiotissa Monastery at Sychari, Athanasios Papageorghiou made soundings for the Department of Antiquities in 1963 to define the refectory and the layout of the west wing¹. The refectory had painted decoration, of which fragments were found, and had later been converted into monks' cells; underground rooms lay to the west, and fragments of wall paintings of high quality came to light in the church¹. Work resumed in December 1964. The refectory was cleared, revealing part of a Turkish bath with its hypocaust, and the foundations of most of the west-wing cells and a series of semi-underground rooms were exposed; the notice dates these to the late 11th or early 12th century². Both seasons are reported in Karageorghis's annual chronicles in the Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 88 and 89^1,2, and Nicolaou's later overview says the church restoration was completed in 1965³.