Home

10%

The house of Theodoros Kolokotronis

Libovisi, Arcadia / Central Peloponnese

Por Desolation Road

15 de June de 2020

The dense forest on the slopes of mount Mainalo, in the Arcadia region of central Peloponnese, hides the house where the military commander in chief of the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829), Theodoros Kolokotronis, spent his childhood, adolescence and various periods of his life.

It is located at the centre of the abandoned Libovisi village, 30 kms outside of the city of Tripoli, and next to the church of Agios Ioannis. It was destroyed in 1771 during the Orlov Revolt (which was backed by Catherine the Great of Russia) against the Ottomans, but was rebuilt by Konstantinos Kolokotronis, father of Theodoros.

The house of the Kolokotronis clan was left to ruins after Lobovisi was abandoned, around the 1880s, but was rebuilt and turned into a museum by the donation of local Panagiotis Aggelopoulos in 1988. It was built on the same foundations, with local stones. Its design is the exact same of the old house, a typical pre-revolutionary 18th century house of the area. Next to it, a refreshment room provides shelter to the travellers, also selling local honey, tea and sweets.

The Kolokotronis clan, one of the most powerful in Arcadia, were since the 16th century in constant war with the Ottomans that ruled the Peloponnese, along with the whole Balkan Peninsula. Born in 1770, Theodoros Kolokotronis -named after the Russian official Fyodor Orlov- managed by the age of 17 to become the chieftain of the region, and in the coming years he acquired so much power in the Peloponnese that the Ottomans issued a reward for his head.

The house of Theodoros Kolokotronis

The house of Theodoros Kolokotronis

The house of Theodoros Kolokotronis

The house of Theodoros Kolokotronis

The house of Theodoros Kolokotronis

The house of Theodoros Kolokotronis

Footnotes

Text & photography Copyright: Panos Diamantis 2012

FootNotes

Text & photography Copyright: Panos Diamantis 2012

© 2026 Desolation Road

The night of the Giants: A glorious WW2 bridge sabotage

On the night of November 25, 1942, a group of Greek partisans and British saboteurs blew up the Gorgopotamos River viaduct, in one of the first major acts of resistance in occupied Europe.

Monastery of Kipina

Kalarrytes village, Northern Tzoumerka region, Ioannina Prefecture, Epirus / Western Greece

The Sleeping Girl

The life after death of young Sofia Afentaki and the death in life of the sculptor of her burial monument, Yannoulis Chalepas.

The monk’s bridge

Kalogeriko stone bridge, Kipoi, Tymfi municipality, Zagorochoria, Epirus / Western Greece

Lumberjacks and tuberculosis ghosts in Campochiaro

The two contradictory lives of the Campochiaro / Agia Eleousa ghost village of mountainous Rhodes.

Milos’ abandoned Sulfur Mine

Thiorichia Beach, Paliorema, Milos island, Western Cyclades / Southern Aegean Sea

Loading, please hold on.