Agia Fotini Mantineias Church, Mantineia

Possibly the most interesting christian temple in Greece. It blends the ancient Greek architecture with the christian one, resulting in a very unique style. A must see for visitors passing by.

Nothing can leave you indifferent when you stand in front of the beautiful church - Agia Fotini Mantineias. From the outside, the church looks like an ancient structure belonging to the Byzantine period, but the amazing story of its construction, which was completed in 1974, is inspiring in itself. The church was the life project of the Greek architect and iconographer - Kostas Papatheodorou. Papatheodorou was exposed to the idea of making a monumental new church after he returned to Greece after studying architecture in Berlin. He was entirely devoted to the project that was fully planned by him, a project that combined different elements of Classical, Byzantine and Modern architecture. The project on the one hand was spectacular in its beauty, but on the other hand, the freedom of action that Papatheodorou took on, put him in controversy with the clergy as he deviated from the guidelines that were accepted at the time. In any case, the end result is absolutely stunning, and in some ways reminds the style of the legendary Catalan architect - Antonio Gaudi. Bottom line - a wonderful spiritual monument and an important symbol of the historic, cultural and religious ties of the people of the region of Arcadia.