Hagia Foteini Mantineia, Orthodox church in Mantineia, Greece.
Hagia Foteini Mantineia is a stone church in Tripoli Municipality, Greece, built with marble elements and wooden beams. Its walls incorporate fragments recovered from ancient sites, including column sections, cut stones, and mosaic pieces.
The church was built between 1969 and 1972 on a plain where the ancient city of Mantineia once stood. Archaeological remains of that city are still visible nearby.
The church is dedicated to Hagia Foteini, a name linked to light, echoing Arcadia's old association with brightness: Mount Lykaion means "bright" and Lykaon was the region's founder. The wall paintings follow this idea, with faces that recall ancient Greek philosophers, and some references to the sanctuaries of Isis once common in Arcadia.
The church sits on flat ground and is easy to walk around. From the E65 highway, take exit 8 Nestani and follow the signs toward Artimisio village to reach it.
Portraits of ancient thinkers such as Homer and Aeschylus hang on the interior walls alongside religious imagery. The church was also built without any cement, relying only on stone, marble, and wood in a way that echoes ancient construction traditions.
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