Monastery of Mardaki

Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary

At the top of a small hill with excellent view to the bay of Messenia,south of Nedousa, at the area of Alagonia, is the monastery dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary and is known as Monastery of Mardaki.

It was built in 1504 by Theodoros Chandrinos, rich man from Alagonia, who became a monk with the name Theodosius, as mentioned by the founding inscription at the narthex of the catholicon, next to the portrait of the founder.

However, various findings indicate that it must have been founded earlier, perhaps over the ruins of an ancient temple, and then it was probably renovated.

It was a stauropegic monastery; it obtained large property and was an important intellectual center, while it was not destroyed during the Turkish occupation thanks to special privileges granted by the Sultan, as gratitude because the abbot of the monastery has cured his daughter.

The monastery helped a lot during the Revolution of 1821; it was the refuge of various Greek armed forces and a meeting place of various chieftains, mainly Nikitas Stamatelopoulos, who came from Nedousa, while there is a tradition that hundreds of books from its excellent library became cartridges for the fight against the Turks.

From the complex today only the catholicon survives, while the cells and the rest of the buildings are in ruins. The church belongs to the architectural type of free cross with an octagonal dome and on its western side a barrel vaulted, aisleless narthex is created.

At its interior survive remarkable wall paintings of 1635, work of Dimitrios Kakavas, one of the most important painters of that time in the Peloponnese. At the church they keep the icon of Panagia Mardakiotissa, which was found in 1867 by the mayor of Alagonia and is considered to be the work of Luke the Evangelist. In addition, on the right of the entrance are walled-in the relics of Patriarch Procopius, who came from Alagonia.

Nowadays there are no monks at the monastery, it is the metochi of the Monastery of Velanidia and celebrates on the 15th and the 23rd of August.