View from Mega-Spileon Monastery
Kalavryta, Greece
February 20, 2009
Kalavryta, Greece
February 20, 2009
The monastery of Méga Spiléou is reputedly the oldest in Greece but unfortunately it’s been burned down and rebuilt so many times it’s a dubious claim. It’s latest incarnation is not particularly attractive but the views over the valley are lovely.
I visited the monastery from Kalávryta several miles up the mountain road. Kalávryta is a schizophrenic place. It has all the cheery trappings of a tourist destination but it’s principle historic interest is it’s horrific past. During WWII, in reprisal for a partisan uprising, the German occupiers rounded up the entire male population over the age of 12 – approx 2000 people – massacred them all and then burned down the town. There’s a moving memorial just out of town where the men were killed and in the center of town the church clock is permanently stopped in poignant tribute to the exact time of the slaughter.
