Agios Petros and Malevi Monastery

It is worth visiting the traditional village of Agios Petros, set in a green landscape and the nearby monastery of Panagia Malevi built in a beautiful setting in a pine forest.

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Agios Petros is a traditional village set in a green landscape at the eastern foothills of Mount Parnon. Up until recently it was mainly a destination for religious tourism, but it is now becoming a popular centre for those who enjoy hiking and exploring nature. It has everything you might need including hotels, cafes, restaurants and shops, as well as being a good starting point for various trails on Mount Parnon. More experienced hikers can head for the peaks of Mikri and Megali Tourla, and for really serious walkers the National Path 033 starts from Agios Petros, and after crossing the Parnon ridge, passes through Monemvasia and ends at Kavo Malias. The area is also famous for its juniper forest (more info in the Box below).

If you happen to be here in July, watch out for the "Kronion Perasma" which is an endurance race of about 70 km run on asphalt. The circular route starts in Agios Petros, goes round Megali Tourla, and finishes up in the village once again. It functions as a test run for people who are going to compete in the Spartathlon in September (www.kronionperasma.com).But you don’t have to go hiking every day. You can spend some time in the village looking round the shops selling traditional products, and you never know, you might hear someone speaking the local Tsakonian dialect (which is derived from Laconian Greek). Or you can take a stroll by the church of the Apostles Peter and Paul and the renovated old stone school building before checking out the Trikaliti Tower, a three-storey building dating from 17th-early 18th century. The tower was very much built with defence in mind, and had a murder hole above the entrance and a drawbridge. As an interesting aside, the tower was home to the village school for a hundred years, from 1836 to 1935.

It’s also worth taking the time to visit the Panagia Malevi monastery which is 10 km from Agios Petros, built in a beautiful setting in a pine forest. Tradition tells us that way back in 717 monks built their first monastery in Kanalos, which is higher up on Parnon and very difficult to get to.

The current monastery was founded here in  1616, but was rebuilt in 1802 as it had been destroyed by the Turks. The building as we see it today is more modern again, having been restored after the 1950s. There is a small stone chapel in the courtyard which houses the famous icon of Panagia Malevi which miraculously produces sweet-smelling myrrh.  According to tradition, it is one of the 70 icons painted by Luke the Evangelist. Crowds of believers come to worship at the icon on August 23, when the monastery celebrates its saints day.

The juniper forests
Thanks to its forests, the "Monastery of Malevi - Mount Parnon" area is included in the European Natura 2000 network as a nature protection area. One of the special things about the area is the 750 acre virgin forest of the rare Juniperus drupacea (Syrian junipers), which you can also see around Prastos and Kosmas.

Did you know that

Agios Petros is 192 km from Athens and 36 km from Tripoli.

The Malevi monastery is 44 km from Tripoli and 30 km from Astros. There are hostels and other facilities. Tel. 0030 27920 22630.

Location

Find the destination on the interactive map below.