Monastery of Frankopidimatos

North of the village Vounargos, approximately in the middle of the road between Pirgos and Amaliada, is the historic church dedicated to Agios Nikolaos, known as Monastery of Frankopidimatos. Its name comes from the tradition that during the period of the Latin Occupation a Frank knight jumped with his horse from the rock to avoid being captured by the Saracens and he was saved by invoking the name of Agios Nikolaos. For this reason, he built the church and dedicated the area to the saint, fulfilling his pledge.

The monastery was probably founded in the beginning of the 14th century and for many years it was the metochi of the patriarchal and stauropegic Monastery of Panagia Chrisopigis Divris and the Monastery of Skafidia. It flourished greatly during the period of Latin and Turkish Occupation, especially in the 17th century, and possessed remarkable property and a great library with rare publications, many of which going back to the 16th century.

In 1798 it was detached from the Monastery of Skafida and functioned as an independent stauropegic monastery. It played an important role during the Revolution of 1821, it collaborated with the chieftains of the area and there is a tradition that its abbot organized campaigns that reached Patras. In the years after the liberation it fell into decay and was re-founded as a women’s monastery, with a royal edict of 1929. In the modern years the monastery became well-known for the famous creations of the nuns weaving with the loom.

The complex of the monastery is surrounded by large two-storey buildings which house cells and auxiliary areas. At the centre is the catholicon, which is dedicated to Agios Nikolaos and architecturally it belongs to the type of the basilica. After the severe damages that it suffered during the earthquakes in 1993 the monastery was reconstructed and had a new, spacious and majestic church, built according to the Byzantine order.

The monastery celebrates on the 6th of December.