The church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour (Metamorphoses tou Soteros), built in the early eighteenth century, stands in the southern outskirts of Chora Exochoriou. It is a single-aisle, timber-roof dromical church with one holy bema apse that is three-sided on the exterior. The interior of the church is covered completely with wall-paintings. Three inscriptions record valuable information for dating the wall-paintings. The earliest inscription records the year 1736. At the northwest corner of the monument stands an early nineteenth-century bell-tower, the faces of which are richly articulated and have intricate relief decoration. The monument had suffered serious damage. A large part of the superstructure of the bell-tower had collapsed, possibly after the severe earthquake in 1942, while the roof of the church leaked badly, resulting in rainwater causing extensive damage to the painted decoration. In addition, the half-demolished bell-tower was a safety hazard for those living nearby. The Non-profit Civil Company AEGEAS has made a decisive contribution to the monument’s protection, by sponsoring works of restoration and conservation under the supervision of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Messenia and beginning with the repair of the roof.
This was followed by the complex project of consolidating and filling in the existing parts of the bell-tower and regaining the superstructure of its pyramidal roof (installation of non-corrosive pulleys, clamps with non-corrosive vertical bolts, application of injections, pointing of the façades with simultaneous preservation of the original grouting). In accordance with the approved study, the imitation of the relief decoration was limited to parts of the initial construction.
