A walk in Dimitsana is enjoyable all year round. The weather is continental, with cold winter, cool spring and autumn and delightful summers. In all seasons, however, make sure you have the right shoes, athletic or other usual, flat, closed daily shoes.
As for dressing in winter, the cold environment of the 1,000-meter high mountain landscape requires warm clothes. In spring and autumn, a simple sweatshirt is enough, and in the summer you only need a comfortable t-shirt at midday but definitely a jacket or something long-sleeved for the evening.
The scenery created in every corner of Dimitsana is particularly picturesque and beautiful. And it’s never the same. Photograph and upload your photos to our Facebook page. The particularly beautiful photos are prized with surprise!
Religious pilgrimage
Dimitsana has a tremendous religious tradition: Five Saints, two Omar Martyrs, Three Patriarchs, seven Patriarchs, over Seventy Metropolitans, hundreds of clerics! It is not accidental that most of its thirty churches, of which seventeen are in the settlement. Take the Map of Dimitsana in the hands and find these holy pilgrimages.
The streets of ancient Tefthis
The area of Dimitsana called Castro was the Acropolis of ancient Tefthidas. An Arcadian town for which there are reports from the years of Homer. The Acropolis of the ancient city is not saved. However, several remnants of the ancient wall surrounding it have been preserved. See the interactive map where you can see the walls and discover them. Do not miss to climb to the Castle – at the top, where the Acropolis was. The 360 degree view will compensate you!
Live in 1821
Dimitsana played a decisive role in preparing for the beginning and the successful outcome of the heroic Revolution of 1821. As a training center in the 10th century, the Greek language and the religious tradition were enduring. With the establishment of the famous Dimitsana School – one of the few centers of education in the Turkish-occupied Greece – it became the most important educational center of the Peloponnese, a nursery of teachers who then communicated their knowledge to other areas. It is characteristic that all participants in the first Assembly in the Monastery of Kaltezon in May 1821 were either graduates of the Dimitsana School or pupils of teachers who had graduated from the Dimitsana School.
Dimitsana, however, is known for the “Dimitsanitiko rubouti”, with which the Spiliotopoulos brothers fueled the struggle of ’21.
Start from the Library of the Dimitsana School, many rare books of which were used to “bind the bands”. Her eager staff will guide you to places where, apart from very rare books, she has “clear documents”: Patriarchal silences, Sultanian firmanas and others. You will also see the school’s “lessons” and her books and notebooks. See the saddle of Papaflessa horse, the bell tower with the bones of the Old Patron Germanos and the paintings of benefactors, heroes and other celebrities of Dimitsana. Do not forget to see the folklore collection of the Library, a sample of the rich cultural tradition of the city.
Experience ’21 walking inside the Settlement based on the interactive map looking for the information and the homes of the heroes. The Antonopoulon Mansion, the house of Spilitopoulou and Michael Oikonomou (the grammar of Kolokotronis) and of course the houses of “Gregorios E Patriarch of Anhon” and the Old Patron of Germanos are points to be seen. (Not all are currently viewable at this time).
Take pictures as much as you can and upload your photos to our Facebook page. Those who are photographed at all, can win a surprise gift!
The streets of the water
Dimitsana is located on the western peaks of Mainalon, in the center of the Peloponnese. The sea is about one and a half hour away with today’s relatively good road network. Nevertheless, it is almost wetted by water. Lousios, on the one hand, and the tributary of Kakkavas, on the other, make Dimitsana’s mountainous volcano look like a peninsula! This very special natural landscape created the need to build seven old and new bridges around the settlement.
The fountains are also interesting constructions in Dimitsana, which seems to have had difficulty in accessing drinking water.
The oldest fountain is Katsovrisi, from which, as it is said, water was taken by the inhabitants of Ancient Tefthida. It was protected by a bastion of her walls that was opposite her, where today is the chapel of the Virgin Mary of Triloka. Below is the Fall of the Despot (Anania Lambarde), which does not appear today as it was plunged by the huge rocks, next to the large central bridge at the entrance of the city. Legendary is the Mustafa Fountain and the complex of Trikarmos Bridge and Vrisis Kouri, opposite the Gas Station.
Glorious Dimitsana
Discover and photographed next to the statues and heroes of the demigodites, in various battles and wars in which they have always participated.
The Open Air Water Power Museum
Do not leave Dimitsana without seeing the well-known and award-winning Outdoor Hydropower Museum! It is a gem of the city.
The Museum consists of traditional workshops that are powered by the power of water and highlights the importance of water-power in traditional society. Focusing on the main pre-industrial techniques that take advantage of water to produce a variety of goods, it links them to the history and daily life of the local society over the ages.
More at http://www.piop.gr/en/diktuo-mouseiwn/Mouseio-Ydrokinisis/to-mouseio.aspx
Lousios Gorge and the Monasteries
The gorge of Lousios is one of the most important sights of Arcadia. It is a place particularly charted historically and religiously, an area of rare and imposing natural beauty, one of the most imposing gorges in Greece. It is also known as Mount Athos in the Peloponnese, because of its many historical monasteries, hermitages and churches. Together with Dimitsana, it has been classified as an archaeological site.
It is the first certified path in Greece by ERA and is ready to serve even the most demanding nature lover from all over the world. 75 km of nature and beauty are waiting for you and your eco-friends to “spend” your time and “earn” unforgettable moments from the one of the most highly rated trails of Europe.. More at https://menalontrail.eu/