Church of Evangelistria

After the end of the village, on the way to Arta, as soon as we pass the narrow bridge, we take right on the dirt road. The path is lush in greenery and beautiful pictures of nature alternating itself.
In an astonishing natural landscape with rare tranquility stands the historic monastery, on the eastern edge of a green plateau with walnuts and laurels, sanctifying the place.

Exterior place
The plateau is surrounded by dense and high vegetation, creating a natural impermeable wall that brings the visitor closer to God.
The building complex of the monastery was built around 1700 and, during its operation, it hosted monks and a school of philosophers. Today the central temple, which was the monastery’s katholikon, survives. Only ruins are preserved from the cells, the mantle and the main entrance. A small building has recently been built which covers the needs of ecclesiastical officers and pilgrims flocking here at the celebrations of the Annunciation and Zoodohos Pigi,which the monastery celebrates.
The temple is simple, small in size and does not impress externally with its architectural line. It is 10 m long, 5 m wide and 4 m tall. It is a stone building, with a tiled roof, replacing the original one made of slates.
Inside, the temple has a small narthex, a nave and an altar, separated by the excellent wood-carved and gold-plated iconostasis. The melancholy that brings the little light that pierces through the small windows of the walls drives the shimmering candle light, which will help us admire the extraordinary frescoes despite all the damage suffered by time.
All the performances reveal the divine splendor and impress the visitor with the rich folds of the garments, the lively movement of the people and the excellent plasticity of the buildings. On the contrary, there is no color variation and the tonality of the colors is not intense.
They depict forms of saints and martyrs with particular elegance in form, scenes with divine power from the life of Christ and the Virgin, special images from the creation of the universe and the protoplasts, the Second Coming e.t.c

Front Hall of the temple
Signs that are saved inform the visitor that the temple was inaugurated in 1704. In another sign, more impressive and unique in ecclesiastical time, is the covenant of the abbot of the monastery who instructs the priests and deacons to keep the temple and the altar clean.
The historical monastery of Evangelistria during the Ottoman domination was a refuge of the enslaved inhabitants of the region and today it is a point of reference for all residents of Kypseli.