LET'S GO FOR A WALK to a Christian monument in Artemisia

Mele Monastery, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, is located in Taygetos, west of the settlement of Artemisia. A few years after the monastery's dissolution in 1833, the Dimakeia Schools, a co-educational and a Greek school (1854 - 1902), were housed there. Today, an essential part of its fortified enclosure is preserved, as is the Catholicon, commemorating Saint John the Baptist. Only traces of walls are visible from the buildings of the cells and other auxiliary spaces. Its architectural type is associated with the monastic complexes of the region that were founded during the 16th and 17th centuries. Inside the temple is recorded with frescoes dating from two phases. The frescoes of the main church and the holy step are based on their stylistic elements to the 17th century. The pictorial programme of the narthex largely follows that of the narthex of the nearby Mardaki Monastery, designed by Dimitrios Kakavas in the first half of the 17th century. The wall paintings of the narthex date from 1716 and are based on a large, lettered dedicatory inscription.

Sunday, January 19th

Departure from Kalamata at 10 am

Information about the excursion on tel.6970-347650