The Fortified Monastery of Evangelistria, Ano Pedina, Zagori

Greek philosophers and sages (figures without a halo) like Plato, Socrates, Solon and Aristotle, and the Sybil (above) adorn the walls, as well as the Saints. Early Christian thinking was influenced by Neo-Platonist philosophy; those Ancient Greek philosophers who did not believe in the twelve gods of Olympus were considered as "bridge-builders" or "forerunners". The oracles of the Sibyl were treated like the prophesies of Old Testament prophets, and were respected by the Early Christian Fathers. The depiction of the Cumaean Sybil (c.f. Virgil in his fourth eclogue) was said go have prophesied the coming of Christ. It should be remembered that Michaelangelo also included five Sibyls amongst the pre-Christian prophetic figures depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas;
magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo.            
iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna,
iam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto.
tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum
desinet ac toto surget gens aurea mundo,
casta fave Lucina; tuus iam regnat Apollo.     

Virgil, Eclogue IV.
        

The monastery in Ano Pedina (Ano Soudena) was restored in 1786.

Evangelistria monastery , its flower-borders and garden are well tended and cared for by Sister Ephymia.

Returning to this posting on 15 June, to add a passage from Patrick Leigh Fermor's "Mani" (1958, pp 213-214), which attests to the widespread depiction of the 'pagan sages of the Greek world' alongside the Saints:

"Solon, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, Thucydides, Sophocles and Apollonius of Tyana, arrayed in robes as honourable as those that adorn the Christian saints, but bereft of haloes. Their presence, due to passages in their writings interpreted as prophecy or ratification of the incarnation of Christ, seems to announce the age-old truth that the Greek Orthodox Church glorifies not only the Christian miracle as revealed to the Evangelists but the continuity and indestructibility of Hellenism and the part played in Christianity by the thought and discipline of the pagan Greek philosophers..."