Monastiri, Achaia

Administrative Region : West Greece
Regional unit : Achaia

Monastiri (Μοναστήρι) Achaia

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Monastiri is a village in the Prefecture of Achaia. Its old name was Vergouvitsa. It is administratively part of the Kallikratian Municipality of Aigialeia, while until 2010 it was part of the Kapodistrian Municipality of Aigeira. It is located at an altitude of 627 meters and is 15 km from the sea. At the 2011 census, it had 119 residents[1].
History
The shrine at the entrance to the village

The creation of the village is traced back to around the beginning of the eighth century AD, when Slavic shepherds dispersed and settled throughout the Peloponnese and therefore also in Vergouvitsa, given that this name is of Slavic origin. The toponym Vergouvitsa was preserved until 1955, when, following a proposal by the Prefectural Committee for Renaming and Toponyms, it was renamed "Monastery"[2] from the monastery of "Panagia tis Vergouvitsiotissa" located in the village.
Sights
Shrine

At the entrance to the village is the shrine, 6 meters high, which was built in 1878 and in which a large icon of the Virgin Mary has been placed. The shrine is built of lime and stone. In the middle of the southern wall, a small fig tree has grown, whose age is almost as old as the shrine. From the shrine begins an uphill stone path approximately 300 meters long with two parallel rows of large cypress trees, which were planted in 1852, and ends at the church square.
Holy Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
The monastery of Panagia Vergouvitsiotissa. The bell tower is visible in the foreground.

The church of the monastery of Panagia Vergouvitsiotissa, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is located northwest of the village, about a thousand meters from it, at an altitude of 700 meters. On the threshold of its door is placed the marble slab under which the historical icon of the Virgin Mary was found. The church is of Byzantine style. Inside there are two rows of frescoes and a multitude of icons. Its iconostasis is wood-carved and handmade, artfully carved with many relief representations while it is gilded with real gold dust. The church was built in 1848 and its iconography was done by two Athonite painters in 1880.
Belfry

The tall bell tower of the church was built in 1891 and is a continuation of the wall that was built in 1880 and encloses the area where the church was built.
Mavrospilia
The cave "Mavrospilia"

Mavrospilia is a large cave to the east of the village. It served as a refuge for the residents in cases of raids and during the Turkish occupation. The people of Vergouvitsi stayed there for three years during the time of Ibrahim. It is characteristic that the blackness from the fires that were lit can still be seen. Inside there is a small groove for the water that comes out of the cave to drain. Theodore Kolokotronis once passed through there, when he set out from Nonakris to attack the Zachoulites who had been armed by Kiamil Bey of Corinth.
Other sights

At a distance of 50 meters from the church of the Virgin Mary, the mountain of Evrostina rises, which is a fringe of Helmos. Sailors call it "Sleeping" because from the sea it looks like a woman sleeping.
In the middle of the mountain, just above the church, there is a rock of about 6 meters, on the top of which stands an ancient pine tree of small stature, like a kind of chair, which is called "The Seat of the Virgin Mary".
On the same line and to the left there is a natural watercolor depicting an old woman loaded with aphanas. The imaginative minds of the inhabitants created the tale that once upon a time an old woman called "Iliou" went on Good Friday to get rid of the dead. When the Virgin Mary was loaded, she got angry and, as she was lying down, she stuck her to the rocks so that the Christians could see her and not spoil the festivities so that they would not suffer the same fate.
The village has 12 deserted churches, all of which date back to the time of the Turkish occupation. One of them, Agios Nikolaos, was the main church of the village and there was the cemetery, which was moved in 1880 near the Virgin Mary. Also, in Agios Georgios, which is the oldest church from the time of Felloi, there are two cypress trees in the yard that are approximately 1,000 years old.
In the central square of the village, which is surrounded by plane trees, there are stone-built fountains from which water flows that gushes from a spring located at the foot of Evrostina.
At the end of the village is the chapel of Agioi Taxiarches, with a view of the village and the Corinthian Gulf.

Access

Access to the Monastery is via the new Athens-Patras National Road to the Derveni junction, at which point the old national road is followed to Aegira. From Aegira there is a sign pointing to the road to the village.

References

EL.STAT. - Resident population of Greece. Census 2011

Pandektis: Renamings of Settlements in Greece. Vergouvitsa - Monastiri. pandektis.ekt.gr

Results of the Population-Housing Census 2011 concerning the Permanent Population of the Country, Government Gazette of the Hellenic Republic, vol. 2, p. 3465 (December 28, 2012).
Christos Samaras, Brief history of the Monastery (Vergouvitsa) and the Virgin Mary of Vergouvitsiotissa, Patras 1972.
The brochure with the brief presentation of the village, edited by Ifigenia Ag. Rozou. (which is published with the permission of the author and the Cultural Association of the Monastery "Vergouvitsa")

Bibliography
Louloudis, Theodoros H. (2010). Achaia. Settlements, settlers, self-government. Patras: Prefectural Cultural Development Enterprise of South-East Achaia.

Municipal unit Aigeira
Community Aigeira
Aigeira Αιγείρα, η)
Community Aiges
Aiges (Αιγές, οι)
Almyros (Αλμυρός, ο)
Lampinos (Λαμπινός, ο)
Community Ampelokipoi
Ampelokipoi (Αμπελόκηποι, οι)
Paliokatona (Παλιοκάτωνα, τα)
Pimpaiika (Πιμπαίικα, τα)
Community Vela
Vela (Βελά, η)
Community Exochi
Exochi (Εξοχή, η)
Community Monastiri
Monastiri (Μοναστήρι, το)
Community Oasi
Oasi (Όασις, η)
Community Periothorio
Perithorio (Περιθώριο, το)
Community Seliana
Seliana (Σελιάνα, η)
Community Sinevro
Sinevro (Σινεβρό, το)
Community Chrysanthio
Kasaneva (Κασάνεβα, η )
Chrysanthi (Χρυσάνθιο, το)

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