Catholic Church of the Transfiguration

Catholic Church of the Transfiguration Review

In the 19th century King Otho returned this 13th-century Venetian-built church, converted to a mosque under the Turks, to Nafplion's Catholics. The church is best known for the wooden arch erected inside the doorway in 1841, with the names carved on it of philhellenes (Greek admirers) who died during the War of Independence (Lord Byron is number 10). A mihrab (Muslim prayer recess) behind the altar and the amputated stub of a minaret are evidence of the church's use as a mosque. The church has a small museum and an underground crypt in which can be found sculptural work commemorating the defeat of the Turks at the hands of the Greeks and philhellenes.