The Holy Monastery of Theotokos Anafonitria in Zakynthos, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is a Byzantine monument with impressive architecture. It was built in the middle of the 15th century in honor of Panagia Vrefokratoussa (the Virgin Mary the Holder of the Newborn) but took its name after the miraculous icon of the Virgin Anafonitria it is housing. This icon was brought to the monastery from Constantinople when the town was captured by the Turks.
Several buildings are forming this monastery, as well as a tower that was built for defensive reasons and is used today as a belfry. The entrance to the monastery is arched and guarded by a square-shaped defensive tower. The main church of the monastery is situated in the center of the complex and it is a three-aisled basilica. The frescoes of the church are impressive and date from five centuries ago.
References:Doune Castle was originally built in the thirteenth century, then probably damaged in the Scottish Wars of Independence, before being rebuilt in its present form in the late 14th century by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340–1420), the son of King Robert II of Scots, and Regent of Scotland from 1388 until his death. Duke Robert"s stronghold has survived relatively unchanged and complete, and the whole castle was traditionally thought of as the result of a single period of construction at this time. The castle passed to the crown in 1425, when Albany"s son was executed, and was used as a royal hunting lodge and dower house.
In the later 16th century, Doune became the property of the Earls of Moray. The castle saw military action during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and Glencairn"s rising in the mid-17th century, and during the Jacobite risings of the late 17th century and 18th century.