Church of Agia Fotini Mantineias — Attraction in Municipality of Tripoli

Nothing can leave you indifferent when you stand in front of the beautiful church - Agia Fotini Mantineias. From the outside, the church looks like an ancient structure belonging to the Byzantine period, but the amazing story of its construction, which was completed in 1974, is inspiring in itself. The church was the life project of the Greek architect and iconographer - Kostas Papatheodorou. Papatheodorou was exposed to the idea of making a monumental new church after he returned to Greece after studying architecture in Berlin.

He was entirely devoted to the project that was fully planned by him, a project that combined different elements of Classical, Byzantine and Modern architecture.

The project on the one hand was spectacular in its beauty, but on the other hand, the freedom of action that Papatheodorou took on, put him in controversy with the clergy as he deviated from the guidelines that were accepted at the time. In any case, the end result is absolutely stunning, and in some ways reminds the style of the legendary Catalan architect - Antonio Gaudi. Bottom line - a wonderful spiritual monument and an important symbol of the historic, cultural and religious ties of the people of the...

Αγία Φωτεινή

Δημιουργία του μεγάλου αρχιτέκτονα Κώστα Παπαθεοδωρου!

Ο παράδοξος ναός. Δεν είναι λίγοι αυτοί που επισκέπτονται την περιοχή αρχικά γιατί έχουν ακούσει να γίνεται λόγος για αυτόν τον μύθο από πέτρα. Βρίσκεται ακριβώς απέναντι από τον αρχαιολογικό χώρο της Μαντινείας και συνομιλεί μαζί του. Πρόκειται για εκλεκτικιστικό αρχιτεκτόνημα. Συνδυάζει αρχαιότροπους ρυθμούς με βυζαντινών επιρροών στοιχεία. Επιδιώκει να αποτελέσει μια γέφυρα των πολιτισμών. Κατ’ αρχάς η αφιέρωσή του στην Αγία Φωτεινή απηχεί τη σχέση της Αρκαδίας με το φως. Είναι γνωστό πως Λύκαιο όρος σημαίνει φωτεινό, το ίδιο σημαίνει και το όνομα Λυκάων, που είναι οικιστής της Αρκαδίας. Η αγιογράφηση του ναού συνέχεται από το ίδιο πνεύμα συγκρητισμού. Τα αγιογραφούμενα πρόσωπα αποδίδονται ως να πρόκειται για αρχαίους Έλληνες φιλοσόφους. Υπάρχουν επίσης κάποιες πολιτιστικές αναφορές στα ιερά της Ίσιδος, που αφθονούσαν στην Αρκαδία. Ο ναός εγκαινιάστηκε το 1972 και αποτελεί ήδη κομμάτι του αρκαδικού μύθου. Το συνολικό αποτέλεσμα αισθητικά έχει μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον και ακόμα μεγαλύτερο οι πνευματικές προεκτάσεις του εγχειρήματος. Στον περιβάλλοντα χώρο υπάρχει ηρώο για να τιμηθούν οι πεσόντες στους πολέμους το οποίο διέπεται από την ίδια λογική με το ναό. Επίσης υπάρχει το λεγόμενο φρέαρ του Ιακώβ, κομψή περίστυλη κρήνη με εντυπωσιακή κατασκευή.

Created by a great architect: Costa’s Papatheodorou.

The strange church of Agia Fotini, located just across the antiquities of ancient Mantineia in the center of Peloponese, is an impressive sight. To get to the church you have to leave the National Road to Tripolis towards Vytina and 4 km further on to take the small country road towards the village of Artemisio. The church of Agia Fotini was built from 1969 to 1978 by the architect, painter and hagiographer Kostas Papatheodorou who wanted to combine different styles from many religions: ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek, Byzantine, traditional Greek-Orthodox. In this way he created a bridge between the classical era and the modern times, expressing the message of continuity and reconciliation of religions. The architecture of the temple has been causing criticism, disagreements and conflicts. In the past it brought about the intervention of the official Orthodox Church, which demanded and eventually imposed a partial whitewash of the magnificent, original frescos and icons of classical style and their replacement with more traditional ones.

In the courtyard of the church you can see the Heroes Garden in honor of all people of Mantinia who fought for their homeland. To the west of the church there is the Jacob's Well, which symbolizes the meeting of Jesus with the Samaritan woman.

The church and the area around it belongs to the Mantinian Association and is used for weddings and other ceremonies. The gate is never locked and can be visited...

A must-see temple opposite the entrance of the Archaeological Site of Ancient Mantineia. It combines a variety of architectural styles and cultures, unlike that of any other Christian church.

In the area surrounding the church, there is a Hero on the right (a monument that honors the fallen soldiers), and on the left side, there is the so-called "Jacob's Well", an elegant peristyle fountain.

Don't forget to spend some time enjoying the unique hagiographies that are painted as if they were portraits of Ancient Greek philosophers, while the wall paintings of Saints are simplistic and resemble...