Church of Agios Petros in Kastania

We find the Church of Agios Petros in Kastania, in the hinterland of Messinian Mani to the northern part of the picturesque village  and it  is 52 km away from the city of Kalamata.

The church of Agios Petros is the oldest and most important monument of the region. It is a small, but extremely elegant church of cruciform shape, constructed in the 12th century.

Both the high quality of its architecture and the rich sculptural and pictorial decorations make the Church of Agios Petros in Kastania, one of the most important medieval monuments of Mani.

The painted, rectangle, embossed, marble doorframe of the Church of Agios Petros in Kastania is remarkable as it is crowned by a marble plaque, which bears the representation of a deer between two birds, which is eaten by a mythical monster with body of a lion, and head and wings of an eagle.

The iconographic program of the Church of Agios Petros in Kastania is quite concise and includes key scenes from Christ’s cycle of life, as well as saints and prophets.