On the ruins of a geometric period settlement, Ithomi, the new capital city of the independent from the Spartans Messenia was founded in the year 369 B.C. The city was named after Messene, the first and legendary queen of the Messenian State who founded the sanctuary of Ithomatas Zeus on the peak of Mt. Ithomi. Structured on the “Hippodamian Plan”, decorated with magnificent public buildings, temples, monuments and houses and surrounded by an undivided and imposing 5 km length wall, the city of Messene surpasses in extent the city of Athens. Although the city lost its independence in 183 B.C. from the Achaean League, during the Roman era it went through an unprecedented period of prosperity.Despite the glory and the fame of ancient Sparta, Messene seems to avenge nowadays, as it has one of the biggest and well-preserved archaeological sites of Greece.  

  The ancient traveler Pausanias, who visited ancient Messene in the middle of the 2^nd century A.D., described it as “a city of statues”. Only a few of the objects he mentioned have been found and adorn the small museum that is situated above the archaeological site. Tens of thousands of finds have been discovered during the excavations and, as result, a more spacious place is needed to house them.

  Of the six gates that the city walls had, the Arcadian gate is the most well-preserved and grandiose. Besides, it was the one to connect Messene with the north. It was used as some kind of customs office, outside of which the city cemetery was situated. The Arcadian gate is one of the monuments that have been honored with a Europa Nostra award.

 The glory of Messene is not restricted in the ancient times but it continues to the Byzantine times. As a proof there are the byzantine monuments that are accessible nowadays.The Old Monastery of Voulcano is located on the top of Mt. Ithomi, where in the ancient times the Sanctuary of Zeus Ithomatas was situated. According an old local tradition it was built during the Byzantine Iconoclasm period, in the beginning of the 8^th century A.D., but a second version claims that the foundation time was during the reign of Emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus (13^th - 14^th centuries). It is assumed that here it was found the holy icon of Virgin Mary; the Guider “denominated the mountain of Voulcano”. The “catholicon” (Church building) of the monastery is decorated with the frescoes of the Moschos brothers (1608).  

 The new Monastery was found in 1625, between the mountains of Eva and Voulcano (Ithomi). Its foundation was needed because of the bad weather conditions during the wintertime and the inability of many believers to reach the top of Ithomi. Thenceforth, the byzantine treasure of Messenia, the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary of Voulcano is permanently housed at the “catholicon” of the monastery. The greatest religious holidays of Messenia are related with the ascent and the descent of the holy icon to and from the old Monastery on the 15^th of August (Dormition of Mary) and again with descent to the town of Messene on the 20^th of September, when the miracle of the savage of the population from a plague epidemic during the 18^th century is celebrated.

 One of the most important byzantine monuments of Peloponnese, with a fortress’ role, is located a few kilometers from Ancient Messene, close to the village of Petralona, in an environment of outstanding natural beauty. The tradition credits as first founder of the monastery the Emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus (13^th – 14^th centuries). The most beautiful building complex of Messenia has sustained many conversions during its long-time history and consequently it is notably interesting. From 1785 until 1929 it remained as a shared property of the famous Saint Catherine’s monastery at Mt. Sinai. Nowadays, the abandoned monastery is a shared property of the closely located Voulcano monastery.

 A real jewel of northwest Messenia, the exquisite byzantine temple of the “Life-giving Spring” of Samarina, is situated in a small valley of olive groves and vineyards, in a 4 kilometers distance south of Ancient Messene. It is a cruciform, domed and incircled temple of the 12^th century, which was the church building of the female Monastery of Samarina. It is well-known for its architectural elegance, its significant marble sculptural decoration of the ‘templon’ and its frescoes among which the depiction of the dead Jesus in the Holy Shroud can be distinguished; a unique, maybe, example of the byzantine monumental art.