View source for Maza, Crete

{{Infobox Greece place
|name               = Maza
|name_local         = Μάζα
|type = community
|image_skyline      =
|caption_skyline    =
|coordinates        = {{coord|35|21|26|N|24|12|48|E|region:GR_type:city_source:enwiki-GNS|display=it|format=dms}}
|elevation          =
|periph             = [[Crete]]
|periphunit         = [[Chania (regional unit)|Chania]]
|municipality       = [[Apokoronas]]
|municunit          = [[Kryonerida]]
|population_as_of   = 2021
|population         = 277
|area               =
|postal_code        =
|area_code          =
|licence            =
|website            =
}}
'''Maza''' (Greek: Μάζα) is a small village in the [[Apokoronas|municipality of Apokoronas]] of the [[Chania (regional unit)|Chania regional unit]] on the island of [[Crete]], [[Greece]]. At the time of the 2021 census, it had 104 residents (277 including the villages Fones and Champatha).<ref name=census21/> The village is perched on a mountain slope some 150 m above the valley of the Boutakas (Μπούτακας) river, 1.7&nbsp;km to the south of the Chania-Rethymno road.
Between the administrative reforms of 1997 and 2011, it belonged to the [[Kryonerida]] municipal unit.<ref>[https://www.eetaa.gr/eetaa/metaboles/oikmet_details.php?id=19858 Μάζα (Χανίων)], EETAA local government reforms</ref>
==The church of St Nicholas Mazianos==
In the central square of the village stands a church dedicated to [[St Nicholas]], of unclear medieval date, with an interior painted in 1325/6 by [[Ioannis Pagomenos]]. The church is a [[Aisleless church|single-nave]] [[Barrel vault|barrel-vaulted]] structure, covered by a tiled [[saddle roof]] and ending in an apse to the east. Its dimensions are 6.67 x 4.3 m.{{sfn|Spatharakis|2001|p=70-71}} A [[transverse arch]] divides the interior space into western and eastern bays. The builders used unworked stone, with the door [[jambs]] and [[lintel]] as the only major exception. The sole window opens into the apse. A notable decorative feature are the three [[Ceramic glaze|glazed]] bowls immured in the façade, two above the entrance and the other above the roof tiles of the apse. Colourful glazed open-form ceramics used in this manner are known as ''[[bacini]]'' and in the Aegean generally date to the period of the [[Frankokratia|Frankish rule]].{{sfn|Yangaki|2016|p=1-18}}
The dedicatory inscription painted inside on the western wall identifies the artist, the date of the fresco cycle, and its sponsors. One half of the project was funded by Dimitrios Sarakinopoulos and Konstattis Raptis, the other half by Georgios Mauromatis, Konstattinos Sarakinopoulos, "all the people of the village of Maza" and the priest Michael.{{sfn|Gerola|1932|p=429-430}}{{sfn|Spatharakis|2001|p=71}}{{sfn|Lymberopoulou|2020|p=212 n. 10}} Pagomenos had painted the church of Panagia at nearby Alikampos ten years earlier, in 1315/6.
Since at least 2012 the key to the church has been available on request from the owner of the adjacent [[taverna]], which boasts an olive tree 600 years old.
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Μάζα_Αποκορώνου_0264.jpg|The central square of Maza with the church of St Nicholas from the west
File:Ναός Αγίου Νικολάου, Μάζα Αποκορώνου 0265.jpg|The church of St Nicholas facing north west
File:Agios Nikolaos church, Maza - exterior facing SE (2022).jpg|St Nicholas - exterior view of south wall and apse
File:Agios Nikolaos church, Maza - apse facing E (2022).jpg|St Nicholas - the apse facing east
File:Agios Nikolaos - general view of interior.jpg|St Nicholas - the interior
File:Ναός Αγίου Νικολάου, Μάζα Αποκορώνου 0262.jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of St Barbara and St Anastasia and the painted inscription
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Betrayal by Judas.jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of the Resurrection
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Baptism of Christ (detail).jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of the Baptism of Christ (detail)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - St George and St Demetrius (detail).jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of St George and St Demetrius (detail)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Hypapante.jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Philoxenia of Abraham (detail).jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of the Hospitality of Abraham (detail)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Deesis with St Nicholas.jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of the Deesis (with St Nicholas in place of St John the Baptist)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Empty Sepulchre (detail).jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of the Empty Sepulchre (detail)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Entry into Jerusalem.jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of the Entry into Jerusalem
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - Entry into Jerusalem (detail).jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of the Entry into Jerusalem (detail)
File:Ναός Αγίου Νικολάου, Μάζα Αποκορώνου 0236.jpg|St Nicholas - fresco of the Crucifixion (above the entrance)
File:Agios Nikolaos, Maza - threshold.jpg|St Nicholas - the threshold piece
</gallery>
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*{{cite book|title=Monumenti veneti nell'isola di Creta|last1=Gerola|first1=Giuseppe|location=Venezia|publisher=Istituto veneto di scienze, lettere ed arti|date=1932|volume=4|pages=429–430|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Monumenti_veneti_nell%27isola_di_Creta_%28IA_monumentivenetin04gero%29.pdf}}
*{{cite book|chapter=‘…κέ παντός του λαου τοῡ χορίου τ(ης) Μάζας…’: Communal Patronage of Church Decoration in Rural Venetian Crete|last=Lymberopoulou|first=Angeliki|title=The Art of the Poor: The Aesthetic Material Culture of the Lower Classes in Europe, 1300–1600|editor-last=Duits|editor-first=Rembrandt|date=2020|location=London|publisher=Bloomsbury|pages=53–63, 211–215}}
*{{cite book|title=Dated Byzantine Wall Paintings of Crete|last1=Spatharakis|first1=Ioannis|location=Leiden|publisher=Alexandros|isbn=9080647616|date=2001|pages=70–71}}
*{{cite book|last=Yangaki|first=Anastasia G.|chapter=The Immured Vessels in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Churches of Greece Research Programme: Objectives and Preliminary Results from Crete|title=Πεπραγμένα του ΙΒ' Διεθνούς Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου|location=Irakleio|date=2016|pages=1–18|chapter-url=https://12iccs.proceedings.gr/en/proceedings/category/39/36/590|isbn=978-960-9480-35-2}}
{{Apokoronas div}}
[[Category:Populated places in Chania (regional unit)]]
[[Category:Apokoronas]]