Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Αρκαδία

Nearby the Loukos monastery stands an old aqueduct bridge crossing a small ravine. The Roman aqueduct carried water from a spring located about one and half kilometer to the northwest. Its purpose was to supply water to the nearby villa of Herodes Atticus, one of the richest and most important Greeks at the time. The aqueduct was built during the second century, when Greece was under Roman rule. The water was rich in dissolved minerals and nowadays the brickwork of the aqueduct is completely covered with lime sinter.

The Loukous Monastery ( Ιερά Μονή Λουκούς ) is probably built on the site of an early Christian church of the 5th century AD. The current catholicon - was rebuilt on its remains in 1117 - is a domed church of the composite four columned. It is decorated with fine wall paintings and its floor is paved with coloured marble slabs. The iconostasis is decorated with portable icons dated to the 17th century. ( Just a pity we were not allowed to take pictures inside the church ) Today the monastery is one of the most important Byzantine monuments in Arcadia. The most possible etymology of the name of the monastery is from the Latin word “Lucus”, which means “Holy Forest”. The monastery was male until 1946 which after turned into a female one.

Agia Theodora (Church of Holy Virgin Martyr Theodora) is a small Byzantine church with 17 trees - 200 years old - growing on its roof; most of them are taller than 20 metres. Only one single root can be seen above the entrance. No roots can be seen anywhere else, not even inside the church. The walls are 70 cm thick. Underneath the church is the source of a river whose water feeds the trees. Inhabitants of the region have built the church in the 12th century. Nowadays the church is a popular place of pilgrimage. Believers are said to have received numerous miracles. In 1965 the church was declared a monument. Theodora grew up in Vasta, where the family would send the sons to fight in the army against the enemy. Having no boys in the family, Theodora decided to join the army to save her father from having to do so. Disguising herself as the soldier Theodore, she soon became one of the most valiant and brave soldiers. A woman soon developed lustful feelings for “Theodore” and claimed that he had impregnated her. Theodora was commanded to either marry the woman or be condemned to death. Doing nothing to prove her innocence (as easy as this would be) Theodora placed her hope in God. Being condemned to death, before her execution, she prayed, “Let my body become a church, my blood a river, and my hair the trees.” On the spot where she was martyred, a spring gushed forth which flooded to become a river which still exists today. The 17 trees on the roof of the church are symbolizing Theodora's age at the time of death.

The Holy Temple of the Diocese of Tegea - dedicated to the Assumption of Mary - is located at one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece. The human presence was consistent, there are ancient findings, Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine. Remnants of a middle-ages castle have also survived. Essentially it is an enormous open archaeological site shaded by tall trees in a green park. The original Byzantine church must have been built in the 11th or 12th century. It was the cathedral of the medieval town of Niklio. The church seems to have been built above the ancient theatre of Tegea, with materials taken both from the theatre and other nearby buildings, such as the early-Christian churches and the medieval wall that used to stand there. After the decline of Tegea and its destructions by wars and earthquakes, the church remained in ruins until the 19th century. It was restored in the period 1884-1888 based on the study of the Austrian architect Ernst Ziller. Due to this restoration, the upper parts of the monument have been altered. The church was not signposted and it took some effort to find its location. Unfortunately it turned out to be closed and there was no one who could help us with a key. As a result we were unable to see (and photograph) the interior with the religious paintings.