Dimitsana

Every time you turn a corner in Dimitsana, you’ll see another picture-perfect scene: Stone houses with traditional architecture, bell towers, cobbled alleys, old churches, views, shops and guesthouses all come together in one of the most famous traditional mountain villages in the Peloponnese.

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Dimitsana is a lively village with cobbled pedestrian walkways, amazing views, unspoilt traditional architecture and a wonderful setting on the verdant slopes of Mount Mainalo. 

As you explore you’ll find stone-built houses, bell towers, old churches, shops, tavernas and guesthouses, and every time you turn a corner you’ll see another picture-perfect scene. Keep an eye out for ruined the walls of Ancient Teuthis which was situated here in the Classical and Hellenistic eras, as sections still remain in some of the narrow alleys in the village. 

The village was designated as a Traditional Settlement in 1978.
From the Byzantine era onwards, Dimitsana gradually developed into an important Arcadian commercial centre. Its great intellectual heyday began after the 16th century, when the famous school of the neighbouring Monastery of the Philosopher was transferred here and the Greek School of Dimitsana was founded.

The beautiful town exudes an old-word charm thanks to the many well-preserved mansion houses and stone churches such as Vlachopanagia, Metamorfosi and Agios Georgios. Nowadays Greeks associate Dimitsana with mountain get-aways, fresh air and nature, but it used to be famed for its gunpowder. In fact, during the Greek war of Independence in 1821 its gunpowder mill supplied ammunition to fighters all over Greece -Dimitsana was quite literally the engine of the revolution! As the Lousios river runs below the village, water-driven proto-industrial facilities such as flour mills, tanneries, water mills and gunpowder mills were set up here in the 19th century. If you want to find out more about traditional and water-powered mechanisms you can visit the charming and informative Open-Air Water Power Museum.  

There are plenty of good guesthouses based in some of the traditional buildings in the village. The village’s narrow central street is called Lampardopoulou and you’ll find tavernas, cafes and shops where you can buy souvenirs and local products. Meat-lovers will be particularly happy with all the meat dishes served in the tavernas (mutton, wild boar, roasted rooster, etc.) but there’s plenty of alternatives if you’d rather try something else. As in neighbouring Stemnitsa (11 km.), the shops sell traditional products such as handmade pasta and trachanas (fermented mixture of grain and yogurt), sweets and honey, etc.

Walking. Dimitsana is the first stop on The Menalon Trail which runs from Stemnitsa to Dimitsana  and then from  Dimitsana to Zygovisti.

From the Open-Air Water Power Museum, you can walk down to ancient Gortys where you can also see the Kokkoris bridge. 

The Public Library of Dimitsana
The Library is housed in a very impressive building and is open to visitors. It was established in 1764 and had 5,000 volumes before the Revolution of 1821. However, by the end of the fighting and the Liberation, only 500 were saved. This was explained by Theodoros Kolokotronis who wrote in his memoirs that the paper from the lost books was used together with Dimitsana gunpowder to manufacture gun cartridges! About 35,000 volumes of old and new books have now been collected. Scientists and researchers visit it all year round. (Tel. 27950 31219, https://www.vivliothiki-dimitsanas.gr/en).

Did you know that

Dimitsana is about 60 km from Tripoli and 202 km from Athens.

From the hill of Agia Paraskevi above the village you will enjoy a panoramic view.

Location

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