The church was founded by the family of Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas, a man who was forced, throughout his life, to make lemonade with the lemons life gave him. His first wife, daughter of an emperor, died prematurely. His efforts to preserve his father’s kingdom ended in humiliating defeat. Twice. He managed to cling to his throne by agreeing to marry Anna, a niece of the man who defeated him the second time. When everything seemed settled, he was forced to acknowledge himself vassal of the King of Sicily, only to share in the latter’s defeat and loss of territory. His wife kept plotting against him in support of his mortal enemy, the Byzantine emperor, but when Nikephoros secured the assistance of the King of Naples, he lost a good chunk of his lands to the Byzantines. Peace was finally restored in 1294 but he died two years later, still drinking his lemonade.