The European Schools Newspaper April issue | Page 22
THE SIGHTS
THE CULTURAL CENTRE by Joanna & Mary
The Cultural Centre in one of the main streets,
Aristomenous Street, is a neoclassical building of early
20th century. Today it has some old parts and a new
part with glass surfaces. In 1910, Regina Pantazopoulou
from Kalamata started building it and it was like a Popular
School with events and lectures for the public. During the
Second World War, it was used either as a court or a
hospital. After the war, there was not much money and
the School was in a difficult situation. In 1968 the Cultural
Centre of Kalamata was founded where the Popular
School was. Today in the building of the Cultural Centre
you can find a big library, a Gallery of Contemporary
Greek Art, an auditorium for events such as concerts and
dance and theatre performances as well as the spaces on
the ground floor for exhibitions.
THE MUSEUMS by
Costas and Angelo
Benakeion
Archaeological
Museum
Folklore
and
History Museum
Archaeological
Museum
of
Messenia
Military Museum
of Kalamata
the castle
THE CASTLES OF
MESSENIA by Costas,
Spyros, Lucas and Nick K.
Apart
from
the
beautiful castle of
Kalamata, Messenia
has
some
other
famous castles: the
castles of the towns
Methoni and Pylos,
Mourtzinos Castle and
Zarnata Castle.
the church of Agioi Apostoloi
the cultural centre
THE CASTLE OF KALAMATA by Micaela
THE CHURCH OF IPAPANDI by Socrates
The castle of Kalamata, or “castle of
Isabeau” was built in the 13th century by
William Villehardouin. It is built on top of a
hill and has a beautiful view of the city and
the sea. It has an amphitheatre for
theatre, music and dance shows. It has also
a lot of trees and flowers and many
tourists visit it. There, you can watch the
International Kalamata Dance festival
every summer. Around the castle there is
the old city of Kalamata with its old houses
and quiet little streets. It is very peaceful.
Near the castle you can see the city’ s
biggest church, the church of Ipapandi and
the historical Byzantine church of Agioi
Apostoloi where the Greek revolution
against the Turks started in 1821.
The church of Ipapandi, Kalamata’s
cathedral, suffered great damage during
the 1986 earthquake but it was restored.
Every year, 2nd February is a religious
holiday here and there is a procession of
the miraculous icon of the Ipapandi.
Archaeological Museum
the church of Ipapandi