The church was built as the katholikon of the Elegmi Monastery. Although no definitive information is available regarding the year of construction, Mango and Ousterhout date the structure to the 12th century, during the Komnenos period (Mango, 1968, 172; and Ousterhout, 1987, 32). The Elegmi Monastery, of which the church is a part, dates to an earlier period. Mango cites various sources regarding the monastery’s history dating back to the early 9th century, and the name “Elegmi Monastery” appears in a source from the year 961 (Mango, 1968, 175). In 1306, the region came under Ottoman rule. In 1652, Patriarch Paisos I granted the monastery stauropegic status (meaning it was directly subordinate to the Patriarch) (Mango, 1968, 176). In the 19th century, the name Agios Averkios Monastery (το Καθολικό της Μονής του Αγίου Αβερκίου) was in use (Mango, 1968, 173). Mango (1968, 173) notes that the name change may have resulted from the monastery being abandoned for a time following the region’s transition to Ottoman rule and later being revived under a new name.1

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