Castles Forts in Arkadia

Castle of Akova

There are remains of the Castle of Akova some 3.5 kilometres outside Vyziki. The castle represents a barony founded in the 13th century. It was built by Baron Gautier de Rosieres on more ancient ruins, and changed hands from the Franks to the Byzantines to the Venetians and the Ottomans. Only a few parts of the wall and tower remain intact, but the magic that surrounds the area is still there.

Frankish Castle, Karitena

http://arcadia.ceid.upatras.gr/arkadia/archsites/xwroi/karitaina.htm

Karytaina (Greek: Καρύταινα, also Καρίταινα) is a village and a community in Arcadia, Greece. It was the seat of the former municipality Gortyna. in 2001 Karytaina had a population of 204 for the village and 257 for the community, which includes the villages Kalyvakia and Karvounaris. Karytaina is situated on a hill on the right bank of the river Alfeios, near its confluence with the Lousios. The Frankish Castle of Karytaina was built on a steep rocky outcrop in 1245 by Hugues de Bruyères. During Frankish domination (13th-15th century) its name was Skorta.

Karytaina is 9 km southwest of Stemnitsa, 12 km east of Andritsaina, 12 km south of Dimitsana and 12 km northwest of Megalopoli. The Greek National Road 76 (Krestena - Andritsaina - Megalopoli) passes east of the town. Karytaina was depicted on the reverse of the Greek 5000 drachmas banknote of 1984-2001.[2] Karytaina has schools, a church, and several shops and services.

Byzantine castle, Mouchli, Agiorgitika

Remains of a byzantine castle, destroyed in 1460, lie in on the hill of Mouchli near the village of Agiorgitika. The castle city housed the church of Panagia Mouchliotissa of the 13th century. Some columns of the church still remain.

Korakovouni Venetian Castle

In Korakovouni, lying among some venerable plane trees are the remains of a Venetian castle.

Leontari castle

Not far from Yefira ('bridge' over the Alfeos river) is the medieval settlement of Leontari. Ruins of the town's caslte are found on the hill. Leontari was an important 14th century town and the seat of the Despots of the Morea (Peloponnese).

Piana castle

At an elevation of 1,050 meters lies the village of Piana above the verdant valley of Falantho where the Elisson or Davia river runs. There are remains of a medieval castle there, are well as remains from the ancient city of Dipaea.

Tavia Castle

Medieval Tavia, built at the foot of Mount Mainalo. featured a castle which today lies in ruins. Various buildings of this medieval town, including the castle towers and two gates, still remain.

Tropaia Frankish castle, Ayios Giorgos

Near the resort village of Tropaia on the slopes of Ayios Giorgos there are well preserved remains of a medieval castle, with three towers, dating from the Frankish period.

Venetian Castle at Nisi, Paralio Astros

There are only remains today of the Venetian Castle which once stood in Nisi, beside the resort town of Paralio Astros.

http://arcadia.ceid.upatras.gr/arkadia/archsites/archsites.htm

Church of Agia Fotini 

The strange church of Agia Fotini, located just across the antiquities of ancient Mantineia in the center of Peloponese, is an impressive sight.

To get to the church you have to leave the National Road to Tripolis towards Vytina and 4 km further on to take the small country road towards the village of Artemisio.

The church of Agia Fotini was built from 1969 to 1978 by the architect, painter and hagiographer Kostas Papatheodorou who wanted to combine different styles from many religions: ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek, Byzantine, traditional Greek-Orthodox.
In this way he created a bridge between the classical era and the modern times, expressing the message of continuity and reconciliation of religions.


The architecture of the temple has been causing criticism, disagreements and conflicts. In the past it brought about the intervention of the official Orthodox Church, which demanded and eventually imposed a partial whitewash of the magnificent, original frescos and icons of classical style and their replacement with more traditional ones.

In the courtyard of the church you can see the Heroes Garden in honor of all people of Mantinia who fought for their homeland. To the west of the church there is the Jacob's Well, which symbolizes the meeting of Jesus with the Samaritan woman.

The church and the area around it belongs to the Mantinian Association and is used for weddings and other ceremonies. The gate is never locked and can be visited at all times.

The cache is a film canister hidden in the wall near the old restaurant. There is no pen, so don’t forget to bring yours! Please mind the muggles that may be around and hide well again!

We don’t live near the cache but we visit Tripolis several times a year. In the meantime a good friend of ours will keep an eye on it.

Subject: Mantinia, Church of Agia Fotini - its architecture combines ancient greek & byzantine elements

Karitena - medieval hilltop town Medieval hilltop town - with a castle on top - when I read that I couldnt help but go see it!

Couldnt get any response from the phone number for the accommodation I was parked outside at Karitena - it was quite late - so I drove to Dhimitsana and found a nice place to stay and drove back in the morning.

It does take quite a bit of time driving the winding and hilly roads around the area but it was worth the extra time to go back to Karitena - the landscape surrounding the whole area is beautiful - the town on its hilltop is also photogenic - and the byzantine bridge that was for all the nation to see on one of its money notes with its cute little chapel was well worth not missing!