The Monastery of Sotiros is located near the village of Kotronas, around 85 km south of Sparta. The church, dedicated to Christ the Saviour, was built around 1500. The monastery is a donation of the Cretan family of the Kallergis, who settled in the settlement of Gonea after being persecuted by the Turks in the middle of the 17th century. To honor the Lord who saved them, they organized the pre-existing temple into a Monastery with a wall and fortifications, with ramparts and battlements on its northern side. In the monastery area, despite all the abandonment, the paved courtyard, the stone stairs, the arched openings, the cells, the storerooms, the oven etc. can be seen. Of particular interest is the small church, cruciform with a high dome and a two-cornered high bell tower on the facade. The interior of the temple bears unique 18th century frescoes depicting Christ and the zodiac (on the west side), bound believers (on the north side) and representations of animals and elements of nature (on the south side). On the eastern side of the main church, an older layer of frescoes dating from the period when the church was built was discovered.
Editor: Niki Kalopaidis
