It used to be a glebe of the Holy Monastery of Stagiades. It is located at the presently deserted settlement of “Siamades”, at a short distance from the historic village of Kastania. Only the catholicon and some ruins of the cell wing, at the north and west part, are still preserved from the once significant monastic complex.
The catholicon was built in the athonite form. It is a complex four-columned room with side apses (choirs) and a narthex on the western side. The dome rises in the middle of the main temple with a high cylindrical drum in the inner side and eight-sided outside. The entrance to the church is through the only existing door on the western side, with a stone-carved lintel panel over the door decorated with elaborate plant designs. The date of the construction of the church, 1807, is written on the lintel.
The church floor is covered with slaty slabs, while a double-rised tiled roof covers the church. The interior of the church, especially the sanctuary, the main temple and the narthex, are covered with frescoes. The iconography follows the arrangement used in post-byzantine planning where depiction took place in zones. On the western side, just below the central depiction of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, there is an inscription making reference to the names of the painters “Georgios and Georgios from Vella” and to 1821, as the year when the frescoes were painted, though this has been a posterior addition to the inscription, in pencil.
In the Regional Operational Programme of Thessaly 2000-2006 and the Measure 2.10 “Management of natural and cultural resources, settlements of the Thessalian country” and with the Ministerial Decision 3515Γ’ΠΕΠ/26.3.07 Decision for the Integration of Works in the Regional Operational Programme of Thessaly, the work: “Strengthening-Restoration of the Holy Church of Agios Nikolaos of the Municipality of Kastania, Trikala”, with a budget of 400,000 euro, was integrated.
The works performed with public works departments (ΥΑ/ ΥΠΠΟ/ ΓΔΑΠΚ/ ΑΡΧ/ Β1/ Φ49-46/ 47751/ 2486/ 20.6.07) by the 19th Byzantine Antiquities Authority, aimed at preserving the authenticity and historicity of one of the most remarkable monuments in the area of Pindus. The works involved: a) taking measures for the protection and strengthening of the wall decoration and the prevention of partial dilapidation during restoration, b) reconstruction of the roof, c) restoration of the exterior walls to their original form, d) restoration of the old wooden roof and window frames, e) maintenance of the old church floor and construction of drainage network for surface rain waters, around the church.
The completion of the work has greatly contributed to the preservation and emergence of a significant piece of architecture, which along with its rich iconographic theme creates an impressive entity, a reference point in the area of Kalampaka.