In Gortynia in the heart of Arcadia at an elevation of 1000m, you can meet Dimitsana, an amazing village with unique architecture, plenty of secrets to explore and trails to walk.
Dimitsana is built on the ruins of the Ancient town Tefthis and never remained uninhabited. It played a great role during the Greek Revolution and has a lot of stories from this period. The green mountain is the jewel of the area and plenty of stone alleys expect you to walk and discover the unique architecture and long history of the place. Inside the settlement you can see the ruins of the ancient town.Walking through the alleys you can discover the great architecture.
Stone-made mansions( Xenion Kazakon, Antonopoulon the house of Germanos of Old Patras, which house guest houses or they are places of heirloom exhibitions. Don't miss visiting the churches of Agiou Vasileiou, Agios Georgios, Church of Holly Mary, the Cathedral of Agia Kiriaki and Agios Charalambos as well. A famous landmark is the Library of Dimitsana, the oldest in Greece, established in 1974, where several religious people, monks, teachers and priests studied. The pages of the books were used for the making of cartidges during the Greek Revolution. Today, there are more than 35.000 volumes, with a lot of Turkish documents among them. There in a bronze reliquary are kept the bones of Palaion Patron Germanos and the saddle of Theodoros Kolokotronis. There is also an archaeological and folk collection.
The Lousios River is present everywhere-according to tradition the Nymps washed Zeus there. The water was always the power of the region. Well, near the village you can visit the open – Air Water Power Museum, unique in Greece, where you will see and learn a lot about the past technology of the area.You can see the mill that grinds grains and the gunpowder mill, which suplied gunpowder dyring the Revolution of 1821.
If you wish to take a longer ride, wear your boots, take th recessary equipment and follow one of the trails to Lousios gorge and the monasteries , such as the Aimyalon monastery between Stemnitsa and Dimitsana.
Dedicated to the birth of Theotokos, built in a care in the 16th -17th Century. It was the shelter of the Greeks during the Greek Revolution. In 1806 six greek men were killed by the Turks after the the betray of a monk.
Dimitsana offers plenty of traditional guest houses with all the amerities, you can buy herbs, pasta and souvenirs to remind you that you have to come back to this amazing place.
