Chrysa Savvidou

The monastery of Zarakas lies a short distance from the Stymphalian lake, near the ruins of ancient Stymphalos in the foothills of Mount Ziria (Chelmos).

The general area attracted many European travellers because of the monastery’s proximity to ancient Stymphalos. Nevertheless, L. Ross¹ was the only one to recognise the remains of a Frankish monastery: “I believe it is a church of the Frankish Middle Ages … or was it perhaps the monastery of some Frankish order?” The other travellers described it as a Byzantine basilica or katholikon,² and some classified it amongst the outstanding examples of Byzantine art. This impression was probably due to the extensive use of spolia (architectural members in second use) from nearby ancient Stymphalos as building material for the new church.³ The memory of the existence of a monastery and its remains are reflected in the modern name of the nearby village, which is called Kionia, probably a corruption of the word kiones (columns).

Excavations were conducted in the years 1924-1930, by A. Orlandos⁴ and in 1962 by E. Stikas, both of whom provide information about the church and the location of the other buildings. In 1984, the Canadian Archaeological School carried out cleaning work on the site and undertook a number of geophysical studies, and the Medieval Institute of Toronto later returned to conduct systematic excavations that lasted for the period 1993-1997.⁵

The precise date of the construction of the church is unknown, though it is possible to arrive at an approximation for it. William Champlitte (prince of the Morea) asked Pope Innocent III to sent Cistercian monks from Hautecombe in Savoy to found a monastery, for which he would make land available.⁶ In turn, the Pope asked the abbot of Hautecombe to send the monks required to found the monastery to Anselmus, the bishop of Patras. The same request to found a monastery in Achaia was repeated a little later by Geoffrey I Villehardouin. There is no further evidence for the decision of the General Chapter, but from the descriptions in the literary sources it seems that the monks probably settled at Zarakas.

The monastery of Zarakas was probably in existence before 1224, even if it had not been completed, since it is mentioned in papal correspondence from 1224 to 1260. Specifically, Pope Honorius III (1216-1226) mentions the monastery to a certain abbot, writing “Abbati de Sacra, cisterciensis ordinis, corinthiensis diocesis in Achaia.”⁷ In another letter, dated 1237, Pope Gregory IX (1227-1247) makes reference to “abbati priori de Saracaz, Corinthiensis diocesis.”⁸ This confirms the attribution of the monastery to Cistercian monks.

Orlandos provides sufficient evidence for the identity of the area named Zarakas in his study of the monastery.⁹ He notes that the area was called Stymphalos or Zarakas as early as the time of the geographer Ptolemy. From the 14th century on, the entire region was called Zarakas, and he came across a small village of Albanians with this name very close to the lake. It may be concluded, then, that this was the abbey mentioned in the papal correspondence which is cited in the corrupted forms Sacra and Saracaz.

On the basis of the above, the construction of the monastery should be placed between the beginning of the 13th century, when the first princes of Achaia requested monks to be sent from France, and 1224, when Zarakas is mentioned in the literary sources.

As for the length of time for which the monastery functioned, this was probably very brief, since it is known from the Canon of the Cistercian monks that after 1276 there was only one Cistercian monastery still functioning in Greece, that at Daphni.