Greece’s Culture Ministry is moving ahead with a restoration project at the Church of St. Joseph in Loutra, on the island of Tinos. The work is designed to structurally reinforce the 19th-century building, upgrade facilities, and support a safe reopening for worship and cultural use.
Built between 1859 and 1872 with support from the local Catholic community and Tinians living abroad, the church is a single-aisle stone basilica. Its history is tied to religious and educational institutions established in Loutra under the Jesuits and Ursulines.
The church blends local neoclassical influences with Western European and Italian ecclesiastical traditions. Features include a marble altar, a bell tower, a women’s gallery, known locally as a gynaikonitis, and extensive wood-carved detailing. A wooden vaulted ceiling called the “ourania” is also part of the interior.
Its condition declined starting in the 1960s, and it largely stopped operating as a place of worship in the late 1990s. The ministry cites decades of limited maintenance, moisture, vegetation growth, seismic activity, and incompatible past interventions as key drivers of damage. Reported problems include water damage to the wooden roof and ceiling decoration, corrosion affecting metal and marble elements, and extensive cracking and deterioration of the masonry, especially around the sanctuary and the bell tower.
Emergency stabilization took place in 2002, and the Friends of Saint Joseph association helped support the church’s designation as a modern monument in 2006. A comprehensive restoration plan approved in 2011 was not fully carried out. The new effort relies on an updated architectural study, with scope that includes reconstructing the wooden roof, restoring the ourania ceiling and painted decoration, repairing masonry and the bell tower, replacing incompatible doors and windows, placing visible electrical wiring underground, and improving surrounding drainage. Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the goal is to protect authenticity and historical character while ensuring safe reopening.
Read the full, original article from eKathimerini.com here.