Works at the Chapel of St. George

Another of the many projects we are currently undertaking. One of our oldest chapels, the one dedicated to St. George from 1765, has had a problem (as do many of these chapels) with humidity. The problem was that, over time, dirt had fallen down the mountain slope and collected around the chapel, reaching over 4 feet in some areas! Rainwater would then collect here, and be absorbed into the walls.

To fix the problem, we began by digging out all the dirt, down to the original level, about a yard around the whole church. A wonderful local man (from Portaria's other parish) with an abundance of philotimo, and his own backhoe, did the work for us at cost. You can see the difference in the photos before (above) and after (below).

Now we are waiting for a donor to help cover the costs of constructing a retaining wall for the dirt around the church and some kind of water run-off system. The next step is then to repaint the chapel inside and out.

You can see the kids like playing in the ditch.

A shot from the embankment above.

We also cleared the yard next to the chapel. To the left are two graves, one of a priest who served the parish for many years during the 20th century, and the other of a famous Greek philanthropist who donated the chapel and the land to the parish many years ago, and also donated the land for the Panteion (from the last name Pantos) University in Athens.

Another shot of the yard from the front or west side of the chapel. You can see that it has a slope. I would like to have grass here so kids can play.