4 Best Sights in The Peloponnese, Greece

This mountainside monastery, altitude 3,117 feet, was founded in the 4th century and is said to be the oldest in Greece, though it has been burned down many times, most recently in 1934. The community once had 450 monks and owned vast tracts of land in the Peloponnese, Constantinople (now Istanbul), and the ancient kingdom of Macedonia, making it one of the richest in Greece. Mega Spileo sits at the base of a huge (360-foot-high) curving cliff face and incorporates a large cavern (the monastery's name means "large cave"). You can tour the monastery to see a charred black-wax-and-mastic icon of the Virgin, supposedly painted by St. Luke, found in the cave after a vision of the shepherdess Euphrosyne led some monks there in AD 362. Also on display are ornate vellum manuscripts of early gospels and the preserved heads of the founding monks.

Modest dress is required; wraps are available at the entrance.

If you're taking the Kalavrita Express, 45 minutes into its trip you can alight at the stream-laced mountain village of Zakhlorou. This stop is signed "Mega Spileo," though the monastery is in fact a one-hour (one-way) hike from here, up a steep path through evergreen oak, cypress, and fir. This trek along a rough donkey track gives you superb views of the Vouraikos valley and distant villages on the opposite side. The occasional sound of bells, from flocks of goats grazing on the steep slopes above, is carried on the wind. It's also possible to take a cab from the village, though they are not always available; if you're driving, the monastery is just off the road between Diakofto and Kalavrita and is well marked.

This is the largest of the monasteries that line the gorge, and is arguably the most spectacular. Its white frontage seemingly dangles from the rocks, lidded by the heavy brow of the stone overhang. It is home to around a dozen monks at any given time. Rules are rather strict regarding visits, and between 1 pm and 5 pm it is closed to visitors. Appropriate dress is also required, and coveralls are provided in the courtyard if you only have shorts. Parts of the building date from the 16th century, and during the War of Independence it doubled as a hospital for the revolutionaries. Inside, its tiny katholico (church) is filled with exquisite frescoes. It can be reached by road as well as by hiking the gorge.

This monastery, set barely 5 km (3 miles) from Kalavrita, is of primary importance as the site where the revolution against Turkish occupation was officially declared on March 25, 1821—a day now marked across most of Greece as Greek Independence Day—in a small church to the right of the main entrance. The monastery itself has been destroyed countless times in its history by both occupying Turks and in 1943 when the German army once more burned it to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1950, and contains a number of paintings dating back to the 17th century as well as a diamond-decorated Gospel book donated by Catherine the Great.

The "newer" of the Philosophou monasteries sits on the west side of the gorge, yet even this dates back to the 17th century. Its katholico (main church), dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, has some beautiful illustrated hagiographies, though during Ottoman rule it is said their eyes were scrubbed out by the invaders. Like many of the sites in this region, the building had a part to play in the War of Independence against the Turks. It was a hideout for the Greek general Theodorous Kolokotronis and formed a meeting place for the chieftains to plot. Today, the only rebels here are the legions of cats, who bask in the shade like fallen soldiers. Exit via the black gates for an 800-meter (½-mile) walk to Old Philosophou Monastery, the bones of a 10th-century monastery dug into the walls of the gorge. It's a spectacular site, and rambling its crumbling stone remains and church, gazing out over the wild gorge, is exhilarating. It was reportedly home to one of Greece's "secret schools," where young Greeks would scrabble the ravine in the pitch darkness in order to receive private tutoring in biblical studies, history, and the Greek language, away from the eyes of the Turkish authorities. Little evidence exists of such schools, and some historians argue they have been created as a nationalist myth.