Religious Sites

The monastery is situated 10km away from the town of Kalavrita. Built on the wild and steep side of a 120m high rocky hill there is a unique view from the monastery’s balcony. The monastery’s cells have been built around the entrance of a cave. The monastery was founded at this location in 362 A.D. by two brothers, Symeon and Theodore, because an icon of the Virgin Mary was found deep inside the cave where there’s also stream. The icon was discovered by a shepherd girl and was created by Apostle Luke from mastic and wax. In 840 A.C. the Mega Spileo was burnt down by the Iconomachs. In 1285 Andronikos Paleologos rebuilt it and from then on, this monastery became one of the richest in the country. In 1400 and in 1600 the monastery went through another two fires at which point the church was burnt down along with the precious library containing rare manuscripts. In 1934, the monastery went through again with another fire during which invaluable relics were destroyed. The monastery was rebuilt, in 1936, but suffered severe destruction in December 1943 from Germans. Germans executed 22 monks and all other staff members and their bodies thrown […]

The monastery is located on the right bank of the river Selinountas, opposite the village Lapanagoi of Municipality of Kalavryta, 30 kilometres from the city of Kalavrita and it is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The Monastery which was built in 532 AD by strategist of Makellaria, as shown by an inscription which still exists, in order to atone from slaughter during the famous “Stasi of Nika” in Istanbul. In the centre of the Monastery it is the Panagia Makelarias, which is a small Byzantine church with a beautiful wooden-carved screen, on which it is placed the icon of the Virgin. This is an authentic Byzantine art piece, with a distinctive feature because wherever you stand, the Virgin’s eyes give you the impression that they follow you. The monastery was destroyed by the Turks in 1458 and renovated by the monk Neophytos. The original name of the monastery was the Virgin Mary Lithostrotiotisa, because it is built on a rock. The name “Makelaria” was given to the Monastery during the carnage that took place when the Turks attempted to conquer it in 1458. After many days of siege Turks occupied the monastery and kill the monks and […]

Just 4,5km away from the center of Kalavryta located the monastery of Agia Lavra, surrounding by many trees. Right of the main entrance of the monastery is the church where it is declared and blessed the revolution by the Bishop Paleon Patron Germanos during the feast of the Annunciation in 1821. The revolutionary flag that was raised on the revolution of 1821, today it is stored in the third monastery that is built since the revolution because the second monastery burned by Ibrahim and it was saved only its catholic place. The third monastery also destroyed by earthquake, fire and the Germans in 1943, but rebuilt.Also saved are the diamond encrusted Gospel, which were a gift from Catherine the Great and the vestments and the pastoral rod of Paleon Patron Germanos. The collection complements a large number of crosses of precious stones and other important objects of worship. From the large collection of images stands out the image of Saint Panteleimon dated in the 1600. On 25th of March every year, there are many celebrations with the mainly one to be the representation of the assembly of the chieftains and the raising of the revolution flag. Opening hours of the […]

Municipality of Erymanthos Legends, secrets, traditions, monuments and treasures in mountainous Achaia The Municipality of Erymanthos is the main and largest mountainous area of ​​the prefecture Achaia which gathers the secrets and legends of the two mountains of Panachaikos and Erymanthos, taking them from yesterday and transferring them to today. It belongs to the Region of Western Greece and was established with the Program Kallikratis, when it came from the unification of the pre-existing Trithea municipalities, Farres and the communities of Kalentzi and Leontiou. The extent of the municipality is 582.93 km². and the population of 8,877 residents according to its inventory 2011. In the villages of Erymanthos and Panachaiikos, as well as the plains of Trithea and Pharaus the visitor can feel the uniqueness of the mountain of Greek nature, knowing about tens of places with natural beauty have the wealth of Greek folk tradition in them. A tradition that is associated with the Greek countryside, the peasantry and the country livestock farming, labor for the land. But on this earth they emerged and cultures and cultures have been developed since prehistoric times and they reach the newer years. This place always had life and was distinguished for its […]

The church located 30km away from the city of Kalavryta, on the road Kalavryta – Aigio through Pteri. In a green area is the church of Panagia Plataniotissa that was formed in the cavity of a huge plane tree, which came from three plane trees that grew together, and over the years came together and created remarkable masterpiece of nature. This historical plane tree is 25m high. The perimeter of its base is 16m approximately, and in the middle is 12.65 meters and it has capacity of 20 people. There is a small temple with two columns which form the Beautiful Gate. The image of the Panagias Vrefokratousas is depicted on the plane at a height of 3 meters above the ground inside the pit, which according to tradition, the image reflected in the tree during the iconoclasm, when monks of the Great Cave in order to save the image of Panagias Vrefokratousas, they carried it from place to place and so they spent one night in the village Klapatsouna (as it was called then), in the natural hollow of the plane tree. That morning when they took the picture to continue their way, they saw surprised an imprint of […]