CHURCHES

The monastery of Agia Marina is located on the south side of the beautiful castle of Larissa near Argos. The small chapel was completely destroyed during the years of occupation by the Turks, but it was rebuilt and became a convent in 1972

The temple is a small basilica with icons of folk art from 1830-1870. The western wall of the temple is a partition wall of another building that was added later which serves as a refectory. New cells have been built to the southwest of the temple. Today four nuns live in the monastery headed by nun Blessed Mother Makaria .

The Cathedral of Kalavryta stands in the central square and is called the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. It celebrates it Saints Day on August 15th. The church was built between 1730 and 1750 but on May 5th 1826 Ibrahim's army burnt down the town of Kalavryta and together with it the church. A serious effort to repair and improve the church took place after 1853 so is has been totally renovated, both inside and out, until it was destroyed again in 1943 by the Germans.

Right after the Liberation the town was rebuilt together with the Cathedral which was reopened as quickly as was possible. The new church is magnificent.

It has been stopped ever since the 13th of December 1943 at exactly the time when the destruction started. The people from Kalavryta choose to do this so out of respect. Below the historical clock in the middle of the bell-tower the Church Committee placed a marble inscription in Greek and English to inform the visitors to this town of the great disaster of 1943.

More will be written about this on the Out & About page.

In the centre of the castle of Koroni, next to the monastery of Saint John the Baptist are the ruins of a small cruciform basilica, the church of Saint Sophia. This church was built during the twelfth century on the foundations of the ancient temple of Apollo. Within the ruins, you can see the baptismal font, the stone steps of the pulpit and a niche of the Bema.

The name of the church, according to the the nuns and many locals is dedicated to Saint Sophia, the martyr, while according to others, to the Divine Wisdom (Sophia in Greek). In 1927, under the fortress walls of the town an icon was found with an image of Byzantine art, a representation of Saint Sophia of the 14th century.

Agios Athanassios

The beautiful, stone laid church of Agios Athanassios is located at the entrance to the city of Kyparissia. It is a clean church with modern architecture, which is laid with beautiful stone. The architecture of Agios Athanassios blends the modern style with the local cultural one, creating a wonderful contemporary style church.

Church of the Annunciation of Virgin Mary

The Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary is found on the road going down to the beach in Kyparissia. It is a beautiful, impressive church. Unfortunately the gates to the grounds were locked so I could not get any closer.

The Church of Agios Nicholaos at Kyparissia Harboour

The church of Agios Nikolaos was built by the fishermen of the harbor at the port of Kyparissia. It is a small rustic Greek church. Though small in size it in no way fails to impress with its architecture and interior decoration. It is one of the smallest churches I have ever seen but is very beautiful.

Agios Giorgos - Nafplio

The Nafplio Cathedral has a long and colorful history. It was probably built sometime in the beginning of the 15th century, when the Venetians ruled in Nafplio. When the Turks took control, it was converted into a mosque. The Venetians came back, rebuilding it again to a Christian church, before the Turks once more changed it to a mosque. In 1822, when Nafplio was liberated, Agios Giorgos was converted to serve as an Orthodox church.

The church has beautiful frescoes and also a genuine royal throne. Otto, Greece's first king, who ruled the country from Nafplio in 1832 to 1834, used it when he attended mass here.

Agios Spyridon

This church built in the early 1700's, is not much to look at on the outside and the inside is plain, but distinctive and almost mysteriously dark. There is a small brass frame with a plaque above it to the right of the entrance door . It encases one of Greek history's most famous bullet holes. One Sunday in 1831, Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greece's first govenor, was on his way to mass in this church.

Outside he met two of his opponents, the brothers Mavromichalis from Mani, known for its war loving inhabitants. The president and the brothers greeted each other then they picked up, respectively, a gun and a knife and killed Kapodistrias. And the bullet that allegedly shot him got stuck in the church wall

Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, first head of state of newly liberated Greece, set foot on the Greek mainland for the first time in Nafplio on 7 January 1828 and made it the official capital of Greece in 1829.

Both brothers were executed, but the incident led to chaos in the newly created state of Greece. This is one of the reasons it was decided that a king would be able to calm tensions, and young Otto (1815 - 1867) was brought from Bavaria to do the job in 1832.