Let's Go for a Walk Group-Get to know a monument of the city (Agios Charalambos)

It is one of Kalamata's most important Byzantine monuments, but later interventions have altered it. The original church is two-storeyed, suggesting that it may have originally been a cemetery. However, the ground floor must not have been used as a crypt since, on at least three sides, large arched openings were left open. The temple of the first floor was originally cruciform inscribed, perhaps a simple tetragon, as indicated by brickwork covering its eastern corner compartments. Of particular interest is the rich ceramic decoration of the external facades and the extensive use of bottle spouts at the level of the cornices, a unique element in the ecclesiastical architecture of Kalamata and generally rare in Peloponnesian monuments.

According to some researchers, the ground floor and first floor belong together and date to the 12th or early 13th century, while others distinguish two Byzantine phases. The temple suffered extensive destruction during the post-Byzantine period, and extensive interventions in the load-bearing structure of the monument followed during the period of the Second Venetian Empire (1685-1715). At the end of the 19th century, a disproportionately large addition was added to the west of the Byzantine church, which today is mainly a church. At the same time, the original core is used as a sanctuary.

Meeting point and time: at 11 am. at the entrance to the Cemetery.