Porta Panagia

The church of Porta Panagia (Greek: Πόρτα Παναγία), full name Panagia tes Portas (Παναγία της Πόρτας, "Panagia of Porta"), is a Byzantine-era church near the village of Pyli, in the Trikala Prefecture in Greece.

The church is located on the northern bank of the Portaikos river, in the ruins of the old settlement of Megale Porta (Μεγάλη Πόρτα) or Megalai Pylai (Μεγάλαι Πύλαι), which was razed by the Ottomans in 1822. The modern village of Pyli, formerly Porta, is nearby. The names for both the former and the current settlement mean "door" or "gate" in Greek, and derive from the nearby namesake pass that forms an entrance to the Pindus Mountains.

The church, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos, was originally the katholikon of a stauropegic monastery dedicated to the "Unconquerable Panagia" (Παναγία Ακαταμάχητος, Panagia Akatamachetos), founded in 1283 by the ruler of Thessaly, the sebastokrator John I Doukas. An ancient temple was located on the site previously, with some column remnants surviving outside the exonarthex. The monastery's extensive possessions in the region were confirmed by the Byzantine emperors Andronikos II Palaiologos and Andronikos III Palaiologos, including the of St. Athanasios in Fanari, of St. Nicholas in Lykousada, an unidentified St. Demetrius, the SS. Theodores tou Kyrou Pavlou, the Theotokos Monastery in Mavrovouni, the metochi of Theotokos in the castle of Fanari, and the Theotokos Monastery known as Boxista. The original village of Megale Porta was also celebrated as the birthplace of Saint Bessarion, Metropolitan of Larissa. The church is the only surviving structure of the old monastery. It passed under the jurisdiction of the nearby Dousikou Monastery in 1843, while continuing to function as the parish church for the village of Porta.

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