of the 14th century became the fortified town of Feres, where the local peasants sought refuge during invasions and civil wars of the period. The monastery functioned until the mid-14th century. Bera was conquered by the Ottomans under Lala Shahin Pasha in the early 1370s, and by 1433, the katholikon church had been converted into a mosque, by the name Suleyman Pasha Mosque. After the area became part of Greece in 1920, the katholikon was restored and reconsecrated as a church in 1940. Katholikon The main surviving structure is the large main church (katholikon), a modified cross-in-square church. The building measures 23×17 m and is 17 m high. On its southeastern corner, there is a brick decoration with an eagle motif. The narthex on the western side has been destroyed. Apart from the main entrance on the western side, there is a side door in the middle of the northern wall. The building shows extensive later repairs on the central apse and the prothesis, as well as the addition of four external buttresses. The roof is covered in lead sheets, as ordained by Isaac himself. The interior space is dominated by the large dome on a twelve-sided base. Through a clever architectural arrangement that hides the dome supports in the main walls of the tabernacle and on two column pairs (possibly spolia), the interior is large and spacious, an effect enhanced by the many windows piercing the dome. The main dome is surrounded by four smaller ones on the corners of the building. The 12th-century frescoes are an excellent example of the contemporary Constantinopolitan School. On the northern and southern walls are large representations of military saints, with features borrowed from Isaac's relatives of the Komnenos dynasty: his father Alexios I on the left on the northern side, and possibly his older brother Andronikos on the right; and his oldest brother John II Komnenos left and Isaac himself on the right on the southern side. Surviving frescoes include representations of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, the Pentecost, the Communion of the Apostles, the Theotokos praying, prelates and prophets, and six-winged seraphs. The cover of Isaac's tomb survives, but its original location within the church is unknown. See also History of Roman and Byzantine domes References External links Byzantine church buildings in Greece 12th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Buildings and structures in Evros (regional unit) Former Christian monasteries Mosques