Sites

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 […]

The Cave of the Lakes located on the road Kalavryta – Kleitoria at an altitude of 827 meters. It is 17km from Kalavryta and 9km from Klitoria. The road passes a few meters from the technical cave entrance and right next to the physics. The Cave of the Lakes still impresses visitors with its name. Lakes in the interior of the cave is not something ordinary or universal, nor for Greece, it is a unique geological phenomenon. The cave can be divided into 3 sections: The first section is dry around 80 meters in length and the floor is covered with thick horizontal layer of red earth. The second section has a length of 700 meters featuring the series of lakes. The third and largest section is 50 meters long. It is a rare creation of Nature. Apart from its labyrinth of corridors, its mysterious galleries and its strange stalactite formations, the “Cave of the Lakes” has something exclusively unique that does not exist in other well known caves. Inside the cave there is a string of cascading lakes forming three different levels that establish its uniqueness in the world. Its explored length is 1980 meters. The developed part of […]

Vouraikos river springs from the mountains of Kalavryta, between the east side of Erimanthos and west of Helmos and flows towards the north west of the prefecture of Achaia. Its length is about 40km. After Kalavryta Vouraikos has carved a deep and steep gorge that runs the funicular railway linking Kalavryta to Diakopto. According to mythology, Hercules loved daughter of Buddha Nefeligeretis and Helice, and opened the passage to reach the sea and meet her. Since it took its name Vouraikos River.

A Archaeological Site of Peristeria is located 8 km from the town of Kyparissia and only 3 km from Raches. It is considered to be one of the most important centers of Proto-Mycenaean civilization, since it was also characterized as “Mycenae of the Western Peloponnese”. The excavations began by Spyros Marinato in 1960, but his sudden death in an accident stopped the excavation. In the late 1970s Professor Georgios Korres continued the excavations. In the area there are three (3) vaulted tombs in which many gold cups and jewels were found, as well as great pots, dating back to the 16th-15th century BC. and are exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Chora.

Lousoi was an important city of Arcadian Azania (such was the name on the Kleitora northwestern Arcadia), a holy nation-wide, the temple of Artemis Agenda. Located on the southwest side of the extension of Aroania mountains (Helmos), in particular in the western foothills of Lucius terms or Prophet Elias, in the valley of Soudena between Kynetha and Kleitoros. Tradition connects the sanctuary of Artemis with the seer Melampus (The Chief Psychiatrist of antiquity) that there cured of madness, with the intervention of the goddess, the daughters of the king of Tiryns Proetos great-granddaughter of Danaos. As a token of gratitude to the goddess daughters introduced female dances, they founded a sacred grove where he erected an altar which erainan blood of goats and sheep. Since then, the residents named Artemis Daily, Day, one that imerefei everything. In honor of the goddess was a great celebration, the DAY, in competitions where they took place and foreigners. Artemis was then “day” (good-natured, benevolent) with offerings and rituals in the sanctuary of. Near Lousoi village of Kalavryta Municipality, the Austrian Archaeological Institute has brought to light the great Arcadian town Lousoi while excavations are continuing. They excavated the temple of Artemis Daily, was […]

The Archaeological site of Ancient Kleitora located at village Ano kleitoria just 3 km from Kleitoria town. This is one of the most important cities of ancient Azania and because it is built on a plain, like other Arcadian cities, it is surrounded by strong walls for protection, which currently do not have survived in good condition, because the material was used in post-Byzantine and later years to build the houses in the surrounding villages. The wall is reinforced by distances from semicircular towers built during the Hellenistic period. The latest excavations have revealed an important part of the fortifications and towers and part of the ancient theater which is not in good condition. In front of the theater in a proper place every summer important theatrical performances are played due to the fact that the situation of the ancient theater does not allow using it. According to tradition the city took its name from Klitoria’s son, Azana.

Just outside the harbor of Avlemonas, at 20 meters depth, a group from the Institute of Marine Archaeology found in 1980 an ancient shipwreck! It was “Mentor”, the ship Lord Elgin used in 1802 to transfer the stolen Parthenon sculptures and fragments of other monuments. After the sinking of “Mentor”, Lord Elgin had used free divers from Kalymnos to haul whatever they could from the precious cargo. The archaeologists’ investigation identified the remains of this effort, such as appliances and items of the crew, including a clock stopped at 1:10 or 2:05. This should be the sinking time, as Lord Elgin’s secretary writes in his diary that the ship started sinking in the early morning hours. So far they have discovered nine stone anchors, relics of shipwrecks and an abundance of articles providing important information on trade and navigation of the time!