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Eleochori

Eleochori is a settlement to the east of Kalamata, perched on the western slopes of Mountain Taygetos. It is located on the northern slope of a hill, at the part that the ancient city Kalamaea was built on. The hill protected the city by the sight of pirates from the port of Kalamata, while from the top, you can see the Messinian bay, Petalidi and Koroni and the Messinian plain (the “Makaria” as named by the ancients Greeks) is extended at front.

On the way to the top of the hill, we can see the so called “cyclopean walls” dating back from antiquity. In the same place there is the church of Agios Theodoros . Relics of antiquities are also preserved in the cemetery of Elaiochori. When the Slavs arrived in Peloponnese, the village was renamed to Giannitsa and so we find it with that name during the years of the revolution in 1821 . The village took the name Eleochori in 1927.

Important attraction of Eleochori is the Monastery of Dimiova. Its name is of Slavic origin and means “krokotopi”, ie the place where the plant “Krokos” blooms, from which derives the yellow “Saffron”.

Under the monastery of Dimiova there is the Tower of Rigas, shelter of besieged monks during the raids and it was significantly damaged during the last big earthquake of Kalamata.

Eleochori is also the hometown of the father of folklore, Nicolaos Politis whose name bears the central square of the village.

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