Aghia Paraskevi

Locaţie: Mesta

Este una dintre cele mai vechi biserici dintre toate satele. Inscriptiile de pe biserica dateaza din 29 martie 1709 insa este mult mai recenta deoarece se refera la reparatiile la care biserica a fost supusa. Turcii au distrus bisericile din toate satele in 1822, insa este foarte miraculos cum biserica Aghia Paraskevi a scapat acestui masacru. Pantokrator domina in centrul domului dominates in the centre of the dome and scenes of Jesus' life and Passion are depicted on the right and left walls. Those representations are complement by pictures of saints.

It is worth mentioning here that the large number of churches inside and outside the village reveals the peak that the region reached during Middle Age. There were nineteen churches inside the village. Fortunately most of them exist up to these days, in a very good condition. There were seventeen more outside the village and all of them still persist. There used to be thirty-seven churches on the wider expanse of Mesta.

Two of them became schools since the end of the last century. At the square there were two churches: Christ's church (it does not exist nowadays) that was a boys' school and St. Mary's church that was a girls' school. What shows Mesta dwellers's thirst for learning is the fact that they had been interested very much in their children's education.