Pilgrimage tourism
Religious Orthodox monuments
The monuments of Greek Orthodoxy located in the prefecture of Achaia are an integral part of the national heritage and a remarkable attraction for visitors. The Byzantine and post-Byzantine churches, the imposing temples, the chapels, the monasteries with their remarkable iconography, the mosaics, the frescoes and the icons, bear witness to the persistent dedication to the traditions as well as the close and long-standing connection between art and religious worship.

Saint Andrew
In the place where the Apostle Andrew died on the cross (66 AD) there are two magnificent churches in honour of the First Acolyte.The new, magnificent, Byzantine-style church was founded in 1908 and inaugurated in 1974. It is the largest and most artistic church in the Balkans and one of the largest in Europe as it can accommodate at least 5,500 people. The central dome is 46 metres high, while around it are twelve smaller ones, representing the disciples of Christ. The old church was built between 1836 and 1843 on the site where the Apostle Andrew was martyred. In front and to the right of the Church, near the Holy Step, is the marble tomb of the Apostle, while next to the old Church is the well of St. Andrew. In its place there used to be the fountain of Dimitra, where there was an oracle for the sick only. The area of the oracle spring was the place where the Apostle Andrew taught. According to tradition, it was at this spring that he was crucified.
It should be noted that Apostle Andrew, before ending up in Patras, toured Russia and many countries of Eastern Europe, so that the Orthodox churches consider him their founder.
The Lord’s first disciple is also highly revered in Scotland through traditions that claim that the ship carrying his remains was wrecked near its coast, which is why its population was Christianized.
Holy Monastery of the Great Cave
It is one of the oldest and most historic monasteries in Greece, located 11 km away. from the town of Kalavryta and is “stuck” on the western, flat and vertical side of Chelmos. According to tradition, the founders of the monastery are the Thessalonian brothers monks Simeon and Theodoros, who, guided by the Virgin Mary and with the help of the shepherdess Euphrosyne, discovered in the inaccessible cave the icon of the Virgin Mary, which had been created by the Evangelist Luke.
The monastery has a great wealth of relics, among which the icon of the Virgin Mary, created by the Evangelist Luke, occupies an exceptional place. It also has a rare banner with the figures of three Byzantine emperors, a precious cross with the Holy Wood, reliquaries, Gospels in vellum, etc. ∆It also has a library with more than 3 000 volumes and a large number of manuscripts, five of which are adorned with remarkable miniatures.
Holy Monastery of Agia Lavra
∆West of Kalavryta and at a distance of six kilometres is the historic Monastery of Agia Lavra which was founded in 961 AD. The monastery became the centre of the National Revolt of 1821, with the raising of the Lavaros of the Revolution and the swearing in of the fighters by the Paleon Patron Germanos. In addition to the ‘Banner of the Revolution’, which depicts the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and was made in Smyrna at the end of the 16th century, the monastery also houses the carafe of Saint Alexios, which was donated to the monastery by the Byzantine emperor Manuel Komnenos in 1359.
In addition, many other relics are kept in the monastery, relics of Saints, two Gospels in manuscript, one of the 11th and the other of the 14th century, etc.
Panagia Tripiti (Aigio)
Patron saint of the city. One of the most beautiful and original religious monuments of Greece, Panagia Tripiti is located on the beach of Aigio, built on a 30m high cliff. from the sea surface, in a cave (hole).
Tradition says that in 1550 AD a castaway looking for land saw a light in a hole in the rock 30 meters high, and as he approached he found the image of the Virgin Mary. From the hole in the rock it got the name “pierced”. Sources about the icon’s painter have not survived. The castaway became the first ascetic of the monastery. The church took its present form in the 19th century.
Monasteries with a long history
Monasteries with a long history in the prefecture of Achaia are the Holy Monastery of Gηροkoμείου, the Holy Monastery of All Saints of Tritaia, the Holy Monastery of Chrysopodaritissa, the historical monasteries of Agia Lavra and Megalo Spilio in Kalavrita, the pilgrimage of Panagia Trypiti in Aigio and many more.