GR PELOPONNESE ARCADIA DIMITSANA PHILOSOPHOU

Loussios river

We follow the river Loussios upstream along a path in the shade of abundant vegetation. The really romantic trail is marked with red signs and crosses the Loussios as it approaches Moni Philosophou (Philósophos in medieval Greek meaning "monk").

The Old Monastery

The Old Monastery can be seen from quite a distance - if you know where it is: it practically merges with the surrounding rocks (photo above right).

The monastery is first mentioned in a document of AD 964, but its authenticity is questionable. All stylistic elements of the katholikon indicate the 12th century as the time of its construction. Not only because of its massive exterior walls, rising to a height of 12 m, the Old Monastery of Philosophos appears as a castle. Also in the interior, castle-like measures are obvious: successive doors stopped intruders on their advance. - In the katholikon, traces of frescoes in high quality, but poorly preserved and partly blemished by modern graffiti, are recognized.

The Old Monastery of Philosophos, still flourishing in the 18th century, was described as deserted in 1819. Its successor was the New Monastery of Philosophos (see further below).

The New Monastery

The New Monastery of Philosophos was already founded in 1641, and renovated in 1992. It lies on a plateau, not far from the Old Monastery, which steeply slopes away on three sides to the Loussios valley.

Moni Philosophou was a stronghold in the Greek struggle for independance in the centuries of Turkish occupation. At night, lit only by the moon, children walked the narrow path from Dimitsana to the monastery's "secret school" (krifó scholío) to receive national and christian education. Most clerics of the region were educated here in theology, among them the later fighter for the nation's freedom, archbishop Germanos.