Holy Monastery of Agios Nikolaos Fragopidima

Between the two large cities of the prefecture of Ilia, six kilometers southeast of Amalia and twelve kilometers northeast of Pyrgos, on wooded hills, is the Holy Monastery of St. Nicholas Fragopidima. As we approach it, we see it built in a ravine that a few decades ago was covered by a dense forest of pine trees, at an altitude of only 350 m. and with its hills to the west lowering so much that the bay and the castle of Kyllini, as well as Zakynthos with its lighthouse, are visible.

The nickname ‘Frangopidimata’ invites us to go back to the years of the Frankish occupation. According to G. Papandreou, “it seems that it never became a Frankish city, although its name is a lie”.