Agioi Pantes

Although built on a hill, it is not particularly visible. However, when you get to the courtyard, you don't know where to first look: on your left is Palamidi castle and Akronafplia fortress, in front of you spreads the entire old town, the district of Pronia, and in the background the port with Bourtzi castle. All Nafplion at your feet!
The interior is equally impressive, since the temple has been built inside the rock. This is one of the reasons why many weddings take place there.

The history
This is one of the oldest surviving churches in the city, dating from the time of the second Venetian occupation, although the exact date of its construction remains unknown. During the Turkish occupation, from 1715 to 1780, it was the only church that Greeks were allowed to attend the Mass.
The church was actually the first cemetery of the city and operated until 1856. On the floor you can discern marble sepulchral stones, with names written on them. Around the church, heroes of the Greek Revolution of 1821 are buried, as well as some of the companions of King Otto, who died of a typhoid epidemic, that had taken over the city during 1833-1834.

The celebration
The temple is the only one in the city dedicated to All Saints. As a result, their memory is solemnly celebrated with an evening service, a bread-cut and a large crowd following the procession of the icon in the narrow alleys of Pronia, on the celebration's eve afternoon.

How to go
Going up the main road "March 25th" in Pronia, you turn right at M. Iatrou street. All the first three alleys you will meet on your right lead you to the church. However, it is better to leave the car in the spacious M. Iatrou str., and to climb up the big, paved stairs of the third alley -they are about twenty- to finally reach the temple's courtyard.

Did you know that?
The area around the church is called Russian, since according to testimonies from the Venetian era, people from Russia were living there.
The church functioned as a parish church until 1890, when the residents themselves asked for a new church to be built, on the pretext that it was small, narrow and low, it was far from their homes and the older ones was difficult to approach, as they had to go up many steps.