The new cathedral was built next to the small church dedicated to St. Minas and the Presentation of Christ (now known as "Small Saint Minas"). It too was consecrated to Saint Minas, patron saint and protector of Megalo Kastro, thus combining legend with tradition and the town's history.
Work on the church began in 1862, but was not completed until 1895.
To this day, the new cathedral is one of the grandest and most imposing churches in Greece. In architectural terms it is an inscribed cruciform church with dome resting on a high pedestal, while the interior bears some features of a three-nave basilica. It has two bell towers on the northeast and southwest corners.
The Cathedral of St. Minas, 2004 (photograph: Multimedia Lab)
St. Minas Square, where the cathedral towers over "Small St. Minas" and St. Catherine's, 2004 (photograph: Vassilis Kozonakis)
Crowds outside the cathedral on a feast day (photograph: Ioannis Valergas, Ioannis M. Tzanis Collection)
Detail from a window decoration on the exterior of the cathedral, 2007 (photograph: Multimedia Lab)
The cathedral from the outside, 2007 (photograph: Multimedia Lab)
The Cathedral of St. Minas, 2007 (Yiannis Harkoutsis)
