Already from the Early Geometric (1100-900 BC) and Geometric period (900-700 BC) the first urban-political communities were formed, which evolved into powerful city-states during historical times, such as Cleitoras, Psophis, Kynaitha, Thelpousa, Lousoi, Paos, anLeontion and other smaller ones.

The area of Kalavryta, which in antiquity was part of northwestern Arcadia called Azania (after Azanas, son of Arkas and Erato), was in its historical route a passage to all sides of the Peloponnese and was constantly inhabited.

The later Kalavryta was probably built not far from the ancient Arcadian-Azantine city of Kynaitha, the location of which is not historically confirmed. The name of the town from kyon (dog) and θέω (run) is indicative of the love of its inhabitants for hunting. The city was surrounded by a wall and minted its own coins. Mention of Kynaitha is made by the historian Polybius in his account of the Allied War (220-217 BC), probably because of its strategic position, and by the historical traveller Pausanias in the 2nd century AD.

After the final conquest of Greece by the Romans (146 BC), the cities of Azania came under the control of the Roman Empire. The first centuries AD (1st, 2nd and 3rd) were centuries of peace and relative vitality for the cities of the region. From the 4th century AD onwards, the Azanian cities began to decline. On the one hand, the various raids of the Goths, Erulians, Vandals, Ostrogoths, etc. in the Peloponnese and on the other hand, the terrible earthquakes of the 6th century AD which destroyed most of the cities of the north-western Peloponnese were the main causes of the deterioration which led to the abandonment of the settlements. At the same time, new settlements began to be established in inaccessible places for safety from the various raids. Around 750 AD the Slavs came and settled in the area, settling mainly in the lowlands where they created their own settlements, as can be deduced from the names of villages and places in the wider area that have survived so far. The Slavs remained in the area until about 900 AD, when they left the Peloponnese. During the Byzantine period, the Christianization of the inhabitants began, a fact which is indicated by the foundation and the great development of the Monastery of the Mega Spilaio.

The Monastery of the Mega Spilaio is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is celebrated on 15 August. It was founded in the 4th century AD by the Thessalonian monks Simeon and Theodore, who, by divine inspiration, sought and found the icon of the Virgin Mary in the cave where the monastery stands today. The icon of Panagia Megalospileotissa is embossed, made of wax and mastic and placed in a silver case, decorated with representations from the life of Virgin Mary. According to tradition, it is the work of the evangelist and physician Luke.

The monastery consists of an impressive eight-storey building complex, which includes reception, hospitality areas, a guest room, a dining room, and a library. The central church of the monastery is a cross-in-square with a double narthex church and it is constructed within the cave. The miraculous icon of Virgin Mary is kept there.

During the period of the National War of Independence, the Mega Spilaio was the centre of revolutionary activity. Ibrahim, who is summoned from Egypt to support Ottomans and suppress the rebelled Greeks, covets the Monastery, which stands inaccessible and unconquered, like an eagle nest. In 1827, Ibrahim arrived with his army at the monastery. The monks, with the aid of Petmezas family and forces provided by Kolokotronis, barricade within it and repel the enemy.

Throughout history, the monastery has suffered many disasters. The first catastrophe refers to the 1934 fire for an unknown cause. Most profound and utter was that of 1943, brought about by the soldiers of the Third Reich. On the 8th of December 1943, they set machine-guns facing the monastery, fire bombshells at its exits and trap the monks inside. They finally conquer the monastery, kill monks and laymen and throw them into a cliff at the position named "Kisoti". Then they continue towards Kalavryta. Having completed their murderous plan, annihilating people and fortunes, they return and loot the monastery and set it on fire. They leave nothing but ashes on their way.

Not far from Kalavryta lies the monastery of Agia Lavra. It is celebrated on the day of Dormition of the mother of God. It was founded in the 10th century by a fellow heremite of Athanasius from Athos at the base of a rock near the present-day complex. The history of the monastery of Agia Lavra is a story of successive destructions, reconstructions and restorations. In the 17th century, the historic church was erected, which is connected with the events of the beginning of the Greek Revolution of 1821.

In the monastery of Agia Lavra, a very important council for the Revolution took place on 10-13 March 1821.It is alleged that during this council of the chieftains, including Germanos of Old Patra, the decision for the beginning of the revolution was taken. On March 21, the first military operation of the revolution in the Peloponnese took place here in Kalavrita. Before their march, the fighters attended the doxology at Agia Lavra and took as a flag the banner of the monastery brocaded with the Dormition scene, which is hosted in the monastery to this day. During the raid of Ibrahim in Achaia the monastery was set on fire, and only the historic temple survived, as seen today, a few metres away from the modern complex.

The German Nazis caused great destruction to the monastery in December '43. Having brought catastrophe to Kalavryta,, they continued their march towards Agia Lavra because they considered the monasteries to be guerrilla shelters . They searched for the monks who remained in the monastery and executed them under the plane tree at the entrance of this holy place. Then, they set the monastery on fire. They destroyed many of the apartments in the complex, the guesthouses, the monks' cells and other buildings, property of the monastery. The churches of the monastery survived, as did, fortunately, the museum, the iron door of which the invaders did not manage to open. Unfortunately, however, countless books and volumes of valuable manuscripts from the monastery's library were burned.

The monastery was restored in the 1950s to the designs of Professor Anastasios Orlandos. During your visit, you can see the historic temple and the museum with important relics from the Greek War of Independence. In the monastery of Agia Lavra is kept the head of Agios Alexios.

The Panhellenic Heroon of the National War of Independence was erected in a prominent place, near the monastery, to remind the eternal and indestructible values of Hellenism.

Since 1204, when the Franks conquered the Byzantine Empire and the Frankish state of Morea was founded in the Peloponnese, the region of Kalavryta has been a self-governing and independent province of the Frankish state. The Frankish State of Morea was divided into 20 baronies, one of which was Kalavryta, where the Baron had his seat. In those years the castle was built (1208), which became one of the most important mediaeval castles in the Peloponnese. In 1330 the Barony of Kalavryta came under the rule of the State of Mistra and more specifically the Palaiologos dynasty. In 1404, the Despot of Mystras, Theodore II Palaiologos, sold Kalavryta, Mystras and Corinth to the Order of the Knights of Saint John of Rhodes, in order to neutralise the Turkish threat, but the inhabitants of Kalavryta refused to submit to the rule of the Knights of Rhodes and rejected any attempt to do so.

In 1460 the Province of Kalavryta as well as the whole Peloponnese was occupied by the Ottomans, who were succeeded by the Venetians (1687), until the Ottomans returned again in 1715.

It is a fact that during the period of Ottoman rule the region experienced a significant population boom. However, the main event, which was perhaps the basis of its development for all the following years, is the formation and setup of the settlement network of the area that took place during this period.

The 18th century would be marked, apart from the remarkable commercial movement of local agricultural products and the development of European connections with several countries, by the occupation by the Albanians (1770) and the great bubonic plague epidemic that struck Kalavryta. During this period, the road network of the region (cobbled streets and bridges) were developed and the powerful families (Petmezaioi, Chondrogiannaioi, Fotilas, Lontoi, Zaimides, etc.) who will play a leading role in the Revolution of 1821 would emerge.

The Province of Kalavryta played a leading role in the beginning of the Greek Revolution against the Turkish occupation in March 1821, a role which appeared not only at the beginning of the fight but also throughout it. Kalavryta was the first town to be liberated from the Turkish yoke. Fighters of Kalavryta later took part in military operations in other parts of the Peloponnese, while Kalavryta's prominent men took part in all the National Assemblies of the War.

The Odontotos Rack Railway connects Kalavryta with Diakopto in an hour, crossing the Vouraikos gorge, through landscapes full of plane trees, elms and willows, passing through countless tunnels and picturesque bridges. It is called Odontotos, because at points along the route where the gradient of the ground exceeds 10% it is hooked on toothed rails. Today, with its restored network, it still offers perhaps the most spectacular 22-kilometre-long route through a landscape of unparalleled beauty and majestic scenery.

It was Charilaos Trikoupis, under the influence of the local politician Asimakis Fotilas, who laid the foundations for the construction of the Odontotos. The project was awarded to the French engineer Aton and employs a large number of workers. Many of them come from Italy, as Italian workers had experience in the construction of the railway network of the Alps. The construction works lasted 5 years (1889-1896), and eventually the train took its original trip on March 10th, 1896, with the first passengers being the Royal Family of George I.

At the time it was considered a miracle of engineering, as its construction itself was a real challenge. The difficulties were numerous: on the one hand, the rugged terrain and the nature of the project, and on the other hand, the workers were attacked by bandits, so that the company had to hire armed guards. The railway station was built in parallel with the construction of the railway line at the beginning of the 20th century. It is a two-storey building, a typical example of French railway architecture, with harmonious stonework and punched brickwork at the edges of the masonry.

The network initially had three steam locomotives. A fourth was purchased in 1899. All four were built in the French factory “Cail”.

In March 1959 the network was supplied with three diesel-electric railcars from the French company “Billard”.

In 1967 the network was enriched with three more trains, built by the French factory “Decauville”, based on the designs of the original three by the “Billard” company. In February 2004, the OSE signed a contract with the Swiss company “STADLER” for the supply of four motor coaches.

In 1996, the Ministry of Culture described the Odontotos as a “remarkable technical project as a whole” and declared the Odontotos Railway and its facilities as “Historical Preserved Monuments”.

Since 1896, the Odontotos has been a constant part of the everyday life of people in Kalavryta. At the city's most difficult moment, on 13 December '43, this small train carried the loot that the soldiers of the Third Reich took from households and shops in Kalavrita. Even after the killing, the German Nazis ordered the Odontotos to stop 11 kilometres before Kalavryta; in this way they subject the barefoot and exhausted mothers to a daily marathon in order to obtain the little food from the Red Cross to keep themselves and their children alive. The whistle of the little train sounds like another prolonged death rattle, revealing that it can hardly bear its own fate.

Today, that the conditions of life have changed, the train has become a tourist attraction. A symbol of culture and progress, picturesqueness and romance, a nostalgic symbol of the friends of this “innocent” means of transport, which “travels” visitors and pilgrims in the beautiful land of Kalavryta.

The building was erected at the beginning of the 20th century. It is an example of a four-class school with neoclassical morphological elements and was built within the framework of a state programme for the construction of school buildings. It belongs to the group of the Syngrou Schools, named after the national benefactor Andreas Syngros, who financed their construction. It was first opened in 1906 and continued to operate until 1992, while on 9 January 2005 it was inaugurated as the Municipal Museum of the Kalavritan Holocaust by the late President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos.

The building carries its own history, which is inextricably linked to the historical events of the period of Occupation, which makes it a historical monument.

During the Italian occupation, the Primary School was used as a concentration camp for the imprisonment of political prisoners, while later it served as a camping place for the Italian Battalion of Kalavryta. During this period teaching was conducted from house to house, while chapels and the Church of the Assumption were used as classrooms.

With the capitulation of Italy in mid-September 1943, it reopened its doors until the end of November 1943, the shortest school year in its long contribution to education. The prisoners of the battle of Rogoi-Kerpini were held in this building on Sunday afternoon, 17 October 1943, until the following day, 18 October 1943, while on 13 December 1943 the German occupation troops used it as a concentration area for the separation of women and children from men over 14 years of age. From there the male population was taken to the Place of Execution, while the women and children were held there as hostages until the destruction of Kalavryta was completed. On 13 December 1943 it was burnt to the ground by a fire caused by the German occupiers.

After the destruction, the chapels of the area were used as classrooms as well as the surviving “building of Tsentouros”, as it was called. The Primary School was reopened in 1950, after being reconstructed according to its original plan. In 1986 it was declared a historical monument and was restored by the Directorate of Cultural Buildings and Restoration of Modern Monuments of the Ministry of Culture, in order to acquire its original form to house the Municipal Museum of the Kalavritan Holocaust. In 1991, the area surrounding the building of the Kalavryta Primary School was also designated a historic site.

On 13 January 1992 it was relocated to a newly built School Complex. In an event held on 12 December 2012 in the courtyard of the newly built School, the names of Aglaia Konti and Eleni Hampsa, the first two teachers of the Kalavryta Primary School after the Kalavryta Holocaust of December 1943, were added to the name of the 12-seat Primary School of Kalavryta. An act of gratitude and minimal moral recognition of their contribution to the local community of Kalavryta, as they were present both in the drama of Kalavryta and later as fighting teachers contributing to the spiritual upbringing of the orphaned children of Kalavryta.

On 28-08-1912 the community of Kalavryta of the Prefecture of Achaia and Elis was established, with its administrative center in the settlement of Kalavryta. 

Throughout the inter-war period the town was the centre of the economic, social and cultural life of the province, with the result that its  population doubled, rising to almost 3000 inhabitants by 1940. 

Most of the inhabitants were engaged in commercial activity, while a large number were working as farmers and stock breeders. The city has a developed tertiary sector, with the concentration of many administrative services (such as the Court of Justice) and the presence of bank branches. The settlement had been electrified since 1927 and had an organised water supply and irrigation network. The town of Kalavryta, as an administrative and commercial centre, was connected by rail with the northern coast of the Peloponnese, Diakopto. In addition, carriage roads were constructed to connect the town with Patras, Pyrgos and Tripoli, providing an alternative road access to the Central and Southern Peloponnese.

Kalavryta had a developed social life. The inhabitants had established professional, sports and cultural associations, as well as charitable associations with a rich charitable activity. Local residents and visitors did not miss the opportunity to have entertainment at festivals, events and annual trade fairs. In winter there was a theatre for a month, while in summer the Philharmonic and small orchestras accompanied the social events.

At dawn on 1 September 1939, and having secured the neutrality of the Soviet Union (through the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of August 1939), Germany launched World War II by invading Poland, using the tactics of Blitzkrieg. Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany on 3 September , in response to Hitler's attack on Poland despite their warnings. Within a month, Poland was defeated by the combined attacks of German and Soviet forces and was divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The relative cessation of hostilities that followed Poland's defeat ended on 9 April 1940, when German forces invaded Norway and Denmark. On 10 May 1940, Germany launched its offensive in Western Europe, invading the Netherlands (Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg), which had maintained a neutral position in the war, as well as France. On 22 June 1940, France signed a capitulation with Germany, which provided for German occupation of the northern half of the country, while the remaining free part of France south of the Loire River was agreed to be governed by the French government (France of Vichy).

Italy, a member of the Axis (the group of countries allied with Germany) entered the war on 10 June 1940, declaring war against Britain and France. Hitler's next target was Great Britain. From July 10 to October 31, 1940, the Nazis launched a series of air attacks against England beginning what became known as the “Battle of Britain”, which they eventually lost. The Germans then turned to the Balkans, where, with the help of Bulgaria, they managed to occupy Yugoslavia and Greece (April 1941) .Hitler, having secured the western front and the Balkans, on 22 June 1941, turned east and launched an attack on the Soviet Union (“Operation Barbarossa”), which was now part of the Allied side.

World War II caused an estimated 55 million lives worldwide. It was the largest and most destructive armed conflict in history. It was the most geographically extensive and resource-intensive armed conflict in human history, involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries.

In the early hours of 28 October 1940, the Italian Ambassador in Athens, Emanuele Grazzi, delivered an ultimatum to the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas, demanding the free passage of the Italian army in order to occupy some strategic points of Greece. Ioannis Metaxas rejected the ultimatum without hesitation and the decision to resist the Italian provocation was enthusiastically received by the people of the country, causing great surprise to the world and especially to the Italian Government.

Important successes were also the occupation of Agioi Saranta on 6 December, of Argirokastro on 8 December and of Himara on 22 December, thus liberating the territories of Northern Epirus. Other successes of the Greek troops followed until March 1941, when the great counterattack of the Italians failed, gaining only small areas of territory in the area north of Himara, a fact that sealed the victory of the Greeks at the front.

On 12 April, the Greek Army began to retreat from Albania to avoid being surrounded by the Germans. This was followed by a capitulation to the Germans on 20 April and to the Italians three days later, which formally ended the Greek-Italian war.

The Greek successes came as a surprise not only to the Italians but also to the Greek political and military leadership. The Greek victory even led the British to reconsider the possibility of aiding the fighting Greece.

Operation phases
 

• Initial Italian offensive (28 October 1940 - 13 November 1940)
• Greek counterattack and immobilization (14 November 1940 - 8 March 1941)
• Spring Italian offensive (9 March 1941 - 23 April 1941)
• German offensive (6 April 1941- 1 June 1941)

After the occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers, the country found itself in a dire situation. For three and a half years (27 April 1941 - 12 October 1944) the Greek people was severely tested by the German, Italian and Bulgarian troops, who were stationed in various parts of the country.

Agricultural production was dramatically reduced, the currency was significantly devalued, shipping lost ¾ of its capacity. Hundreds of villages suffered minor or major disasters. The loss of manpower, the result of a terrible famine in the large cities, but also of executions and deportations, dealt a heavy blow to the productive forces of the country.

During the years of the Occupation, the administration of the country was taken over by a government appointed by the Germans, while the legitimate government fled to Egypt.

The war, the Occupation and internal strife led the country to exhaustion and complete disorganisation.

The German invasion began on 6 April 1941, when German troops attacked Greece through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Two German army corps attacked Greek positions in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Despite the heroic resistance of the defenders, the battle lasted only four days, as the German attack through Yugoslavia, which surrendered unconditionally, overwhelmed the defensive positions and threatened the rear of the Greek troops. On 9 April the Greek troops in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace surrendered, but many soldiers continued defending the forts and eventually the Germans openly expressed their admiration for the bravery and fighting spirit of the Greeks.

On 9 April the German advance southwards began, with simultaneous movement of forces from Edessa and from the area of Florina. On the line of defense in Western Macedonia, the combined forces of Greece and the British Commonwealth were unable to deal effectively with the better equipped and vastly outnumbered German forces. The breach in the defense created in the area of Kleisura forced the Greek-British forces to regroup, but on 16 April the Germans managed to penetrate between the Greek and Commonwealth forces.

The peaceful life and development of the city was abruptly suspended by the Second World War and tragically interrupted by the total destruction of 1943.

Kalavryta experienced the pulse of the war, like every Greek town at the time, but, perhaps more than any other town in Greece, it faced the atrocities of the conqueror.

From the end of May 1941 until September 9, 1943, Kalavrita was under Italian occupation. During their stay, the Italian occupiers requisitioned houses and public buildings and the building of the Primary School, which they turned into a concentration camp for political prisoners of the Peloponnese.

They spread fear and terror among the inhabitants, living at the same time at their expense. The people of the countryside were suffering. Their means of livelihood were being plundered and looted. They were severely challenged by hunger and misery and patiently endured humiliation, drawing courage from the unquenchable desire for freedom.

At the same time, the Italian occupation forces were engaged in battles with the forces of the National Resistance, which in the meantime had begun to flare up. In the spring and summer of 1943, various skirmishes took place between the Resistance forces and the Italians in the wider area of Kalavryta.

The Italians retained military control of the Peloponnese practically until the summer of 1943 and formally until 9 September 1943, the date on which they were disarmed by the Germans because they no longer belonged to the Axis, due to the capitulation of the Italian state to the Allies.

During the Italian-German occupation and especially in 1943 the wider area of Aigialia - Kalavryta was a field of significant resistance activity. Like the rest of Greece, the Peloponnese participated actively and decisively in the resistance, contributing decisively to the anti-fascist fight. The strategic advantages offered by the morphology of the terrain resulted in the development of the most active resistance movement in the Peloponnese in the area of Aigialia - Kalavryta. The most important organisation in the region, due to its massiveness and resistance effectiveness, was the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). The remarkable victories won by the guerrillas in the first battles against the Italians in the spring-summer of 1943 helped to revive the morale of the population, which further strengthened the lines of ELAS .As a result, ELAS developed into a regular army with a real military structure. At the forefront of the struggle were the 12th ELAS Regiment as well as the independent battalions of Aigialia and Kalavryta.

The partisan groups in Achaia began their activity in the spring of 1943 in the mountains of Aigialeia. The first resistance act was the disarmament on 27 March of a Gendarmerie Department in Aragozaina, followed later by the villages of Dafni and Achladia. At the beginning of April, this group, which consisted of 17 guerrillas, was met by Lieutenant Colonel Mihos from Lapanagoi Kalavryta who was placed at its head. The first guerrilla group made its presence felt in the villages of Melissia and Achladia of Aigio.

From a strategic point of view, they facilitated the strategic planning of the Allied forces in the Second World War, enabling the distraction attempted by the Allies in Greece to facilitate the landings in Sicily in 1943. This forced the Germans to fortify the Peloponnese, weakening their Southern European front.

In conclusion, one can state that the inhabitants of the province of Kalavryta and Aigialia joined the ranks of this struggle from the very beginning, consciously and almost universally, standing up to the combative traditions of the region.

It was the first organised battle in the Peloponnese of a structured guerrilla group against the Occupation forces. It involved 13 guerrillas against 80 Italian soldiers. The battle resulted in over 20 dead Italians and 1 wounded guerrilla. The guerrillas looted 2 Fiat machine guns, 24 rifles and all ammunition.

On June 13, 1943, a group of ELAS guerrillas consisting of about 25 people settled on a plateau east of the Monastery of Agia Lavra in order to rest after the two successful sabotages they had carried out the previous day (Odontotos Line and Kalavryta Mining).

Following a betrayal, the Italians, about 300 soldiers, set out from Kalavryta to surround the rebels divided into 2 groups. One group headed towards the Monastery while the other moved along the old road to Mazeika and from there turned towards Agia Lavra .The Italians were spotted by the guerrillas when they were very close. Reacting instantly, the guerrillas managed to break free from the cordon.

The losses for the Italians amounted to 4 dead and 12 wounded while from the side of the guerrillas the lieutenant Theodoros Koutsoumbas (Papanikolis) from Mazeika Kalavryta was seriously wounded.

Two days after the battle at Trikokkia Agia Lavra, another group of about 25 guerrillas, led by Dimitrios Michos, was again in danger of being trapped in the village of Kertezi, Kalavryta. At the “Vracha of Kara” the group stopped to rest after the long march.

Following a betrayal, about 200 Italians rushed to exterminate the group which was taken by surprise. Despite the exhaustion of the group a rudimentary defence was organised and the group managed to escape from the encirclement.

The Italian casualties are unquantifiable, while on the part of the guerrillas Dimitrios Karvelas, deacon from Mega Spilaio, and the policeman of the Mazeika Station, Vasilios Korovesis, who had acceded to ELAS, were taken prisoner. The next day the Italians executed them in Kalavryta, in the courtyard of the High school.

At dawn on Sunday 20 June 1943, a group of 30 guerrillas led by Dimitrios Michos entered the village of Filia and settled in the school to rest and regain strength.The members of United Panhellenic Organization of Youth (EPON) guarded the forward positions. At 9 am a group of about 100 Italians was spotted coming up from Mazeika in battle formation.

The rebels split into 2 groups of 15 men and take up strategic positions at the entrance of the village. The battle that broke out lasted six hours. Italian casualties were estimated at 25 dead and 20 wounded while the rebels suffered 2 dead and 5 wounded.

The Italians burned the village after the guerrillas left and executed six inhabitants in retaliation.

On 14 July 1943, the 12th ELAS Regiment led by Colonel Vlassis Andrikopoulos received information that the III. Elite Battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the 3rd Piemont Division commanded by Major Emilio Gasparo (who called himself a “guerrillaeater”) was moving in the area, consisting of 300 men. Reinforcements from the ELAS reserve forces of Aigialeia and from the surrounding villages were called in with the help of liaisons.

After the recognition of the Italian battalion, the decision was made to launch a surprise attack with a heavy machine gun. The battle was fierce and lasted 16 hours.. Despite their superior weaponry the Italians were gradually surrounded and crushed.

The Italian losses were at least 20 dead, 17 wounded, 92 prisoners, among the latter Gasparo and four other officers, and a lot of booty in heavy and light weapons. Another source reports Italian casualties of 26 dead, 39 wounded and 107 prisoners. ELAS losses amounted to 4 dead.

This battle boosted the morale of the guerrillas while the loot captured by the guerrillas strengthened the fighting capacity of ELAS.

On July 29, 1943, German Stukas bombed the village of Manesi during a bombing raid, killing two inhabitants. On the same day, the villages of Lapates and Trehlos in the Province of Kalavryta were also bombed.

On 29 July 1943, the village of Trehló was bombed by German Stukas in a bombing operation, killing five inhabitants. On the same day, the villages of Manesi and Lapata in Kalavryta Province were also bombed.

On July 29, 1943, German Stukas bombed the village of Lapates in a bombing raid, killing seven inhabitants. On the same day, the villages of Manesi and Trehlos in the Province of Kalavryta were also bombed.

At the end of August - beginning of September 1943, the story of the Kalavritan drama begins with the German operation "Vytina", an attack by the Resistance forces operating in the area of Kalavryta. The Germans destroyed Ano Sudena, which was the first resistance village in the area. After looting and burning it, they arrested the young Konstantinos Pavlopoulos, a member of the National Resistance, and on September 1, 1943, they led him to Kalavryta, where they hanged him in a plane tree near the Liberty Square (Chelmos) as an example, forcing the inhabitants to watch the horrible spectacle.

The Italians maintained military control of the Peloponnese until September 9, 1943, when they were disarmed by the Germans due to the capitulation of the Italian state to the Allies. The whole military activity in the Peloponnese was undertaken from September 1943 by the German Occupation Forces.

On 16 October 1943 the Command of the 749 Hunters Regiment sent 5/749 mixed company with ninety-seven men under the Austrian Captain Schober to the area of Kalavryta. The company's mission was to reconnoitre the area and gather information on the movements of the rebel groups.

The unit's sortie was carried out without proper preparation and organisation: it consisted of soldiers of various nationalities (Alsatians, German Poles, Austrians and Germans) poorly equipped and uncoordinated, without heavy weapons and radios.

The Battle of Kerpini took place on 16-17 October 1943 between the "Independent Battalion of Kalavrita" of the ELAS (later 2nd Battalion of the 12th ELAS Regiment) under the command of Sfakianos (Aretakis) and the 5/749 Company of Hunters (Schober Company) in the area between Rogoi - Kerpini Kalavrita. Four German soldiers were killed in the battle, while most of the company was captured. Some escaped. The prisoners were taken to Kalavryta and then to Kleitoria (Mazeika).

Signature of “Operation Kalavryta”. 117 Hunters Division (Fellmy - Le Suire)

In 1943 the greater region of Kalavryta is known as the cradle of the Resistance. The ongoing killings of soldiers of the occupation forces warrant a vigorous and efficient response from the Nazis, in order to get rid of the “Symmorites” as they called the partisans. Their response took the form of a gigantic operation, known as “Operation Kalavryta”.

The Battle of Kerpini which took place on October 16-17, 1943 between the “Independent Battalion of Kalavryta” of ELAS (later 2nd Battalion of the 12th ELAS Regiment) and the 5/749 Jäger Company (Schober company), which resulted in the capture of eighty-one Germans was the main cause of the “Operation Kalavryta” (Unternehmen Kalawrita).

The order for the operation was signed in Corinth on November 25, 1943 by the commander of the 117th Jäger Division, Karl von Le Suire, and its purpose was to clear the Helmos mountain range of resistance groups, to search for the German captives of the Schober Company and to terrorise the population by executing civilians and looting in order to prevent them from offering support to the rebels. The operation took place from 5 to 15 December 1943 and was one of the most inhumane of the Wehrmacht, not only in Greece but also in Europe in general.

The aims of «Operation Kalavryta» were:
 

• Α. To eliminate the gangs located there.
• Β. To search the area for communists, weapons and propaganda material.
• C. To search for members of the 5/749 Company of Hunters, captured on 18.10.1943 near Rogi - Kerpini, with readiness to impose corresponding reprisals.

The German forces were divided into three Battle Groups and started simultaneously from Patras, Aegio and Vytina, each having a different area of responsibility - action in the Kalavryta Province. Specifically:
 

• Α) Wölfinger Battle Group, led by Lieutenant Colonel Wölfinger, commander of Patras, with Patras as its concentration point.
• B) Ebersberger Battle Group, with Aigio as its concentration point and under the command of Major Ebersberger.
• C) Gnass Battle Group, with Vytina as its concentration point and under the command of Captain Gnass.

The military force of the Operation amounts to 3000 soldiers. The Wölfinger Battle Group moved on 5 December 1943 from Patras to Kalavryta, via the Halandritsa road. There it was to join up with the Ebersberger Battle Group, which, through the mountainous terrain between Kalavryta and Aigio, would pass through the northern villages of the Kalavryta Province.

The Gnass Battle Group, two days before the start of the Operation, was to advance from Tripoli to Vytina and Lagadia in Arcadia and then move towards Mazeika (“today's Clitoria”).The battle instructions given to the German troops were: The success of the operation does not lie in the territorial gains, but in the size of the enemy losses and spoils. It is important to identify the gangs and drive them into battle. The settlements from which fire is coming , must be razed to the ground and their men executed. Expect hostile attitude from the population, special attention should be paid to the monasteries, possible places of arsenals. On the entry of German troops into an area the movement of the population should be obstructed. Within the framework of “Operation Kalavryta” two supporting operations were organised and executed, with the aim of preventing the fleeing of the Resistance Forces from the Province of Kalavryta. “Operation Stiglitz” began on 9 December 1943 and troops from Corinth moved towards the area of Feneos. Meanwhile, in “Operation Büffel” (9 - 12 December 1943) troops started from Pyrgos and moved towards the Nemouta-Lala-Douka area.

In the morning of Monday, November 29, 1943, following an order by General of Aviation Hellmuth Fellmy, commander of the 68th Army Corps based in Athens, twelve Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka planes, with repeated attacks, bombed the village of Skepasto (Vysoka) 3 km west of Kalavryta, nearly entirely demolishing the operating Primary School, in the belief that it was the centre of the National Resistance.

A German military report mentions: «Stukas attacked the bandit headquarters in Vysoka (20 km south of Aigio) with 12 planes. Direct hits were made on the school and several houses were burned. A (our) liaison person was dispatched to Vysoka to report the results (of the bombing)».

The death toll was 13, including four pupils of the primary school.

On December 5, 1943, the day of the beginning of the Operation, the troops passed through the villages Lapanagoi and Pagrati.

One man was executed in Pagrati.

On 6 December 1943 the troops pass through the villages Kalanos and Papantoni.

5 men were executed.

On 7 December 1943, at the position of Magerou near the village of Mazi (Elatofyto, Achaia), 78 German soldiers of 5/749 Schober Company, captives of the Battle of Rogoi - Kerpini, which occurred on 16/17 October 1943, were executed by ELAS guerrillas. Two German soldiers were survived from the execution.

The German Occupation Forces entered the village on December 8, 1943 and called the inhabitants to gather to compensate them for the animals they had seized. The men gathered at the church of Agia Barbara and were executed in groups of six in the courtyard.

65 innocent dead and 7 rescued.

Also on December 8, hiking columns arrived in Kerpini. One column headed towards the Rogoi village and the other entered Kerpini. The Germans stayed in the village until the afternoon and asked the men to assemble to talk to them. Several inhabitants disobeyed the order and managed to hide or escape.

The Germans executed 9 people in the village in various places, in the courtyards of the houses and in the streets of the village.

Subsequently, the rest of the men whom they had managed to gather were led to the «Lithakia» position where they were executed.

A total of 36 men aged between 17 and 80 were executed. 3 men survived the execution.

The Germans, after Kerpini and Rogoi, reached the villages of Ano Zachlorou.

In Ano Zachlorou they arrested and executed 9 inhabitants.

The Germans, after Kerpini and Rogoi, reached the villages of Kato Zachlorou.

The Odontotos Railway passes through the village of Kato Zachlorou.

In Kato Zachlorou, after conducting searches in the houses, they arrested the villagers. The men, except for the Railway employees, were ordered to walk following the railway line, where they were shot in the back.

The toll was 17 executed and 6 survivors.

On December 8, another squad executed 25 people, the monks and laymen who were inside the Monastery of the Mega Spilaio and threw them into a cliff at the «Kissoti» location.

On 9/12/1943, the troops passed through the area of Stasi Kerpini - Souvardo - Avles.

At Stasi Kerpini 4 men were executed.

During the early morning hours, the first units of the Wölfinger Battle Group entered Kalavryta and the inhabitants were taken by surprise. The residents were ordered to assemble in the atrium in front of the administration building in the square and hand over weapons and war material as well as a list of names of the guerrillas originating from Kalavryta. The Community President Papandreou compiled a list of 22 names, putting the names of his two sons first. The German Nazis burned the houses of the guerrillas and occupied the remaining houses of the inhabitants, and enforced a curfew after 4 p.m. and a prohibition of leaving the town.

Vrahni and Souvardo were burnt and looted on 9 and 10 October respectively. A total of 10 people were executed.

On 10/12/1943 the troops from the south passed through the Gap into the village of Priolithos.

After the troops entered the village and specifically at Priolithos’ Gap (southwest of the village), the Germans executed 5 men after forcing them to dig their graves.

Mass shooting of 12 inhabitants of Klitoria at the site of Mageros, used as guides by the Germans in order to find the German prisoners of the Battle of Kerpini.

In the early morning hours of December 13, 1943, while the troops of the Wölfinger and Ebersberger Battle Groups were inside the city for the fifth day, the inhabitants woke up to the ringing of bells and the voices of the Community's clerk calling them to gather at the Primary School with a blanket and a day's food.

There the troops violently and inhumanly separated the families. The women and children, some 1,100 in number (including 14 pregnant women), were held hostage in the school halls so that they could complete their task of burning and looting the town without being distracted. The men and teenagers, from 14 to 80 years old, were led to the Hill of the Kapi for a long period of hostage-taking until the firing squad gave the order to execute them.

A total of 465 executed and 13 rescued.

On 14/12/1943, the last day of the Operation, the troops destroyed the Holy Monastery of Agia Lavra and executed 4 monks and its keeper.

Also on 14 December, before returning to Patras, the troops destroyed the village of Skepasto, and executed one man. On 29 November 43, Skepasto had been bombed by the German Air Force, killing 13 inhabitants.

The German troops, who camped in Cleitoria, before returning to their base in Tripoli looted and burned the village. In Cleitoria and the surrounding villages 15 inhabitants were executed, 10 of whom at the Magerou location after the completion of the forced labour, the finding and transportation of the bodies of the German soldiers who had been executed on the evening of December 7. One survived.

On 14 December 1943 "Operation Kalavryta" came to an end with the withdrawal of the German troops from the area of Kalavryta.

Telegram of the 117 Infantry Division dated 31/12/1943. At the bottom of the page there is an indication of the areas destroyed and the number of Greeks executed. 

In the final report, on January 19, 1944, on the outcome of "Operation Kalavrita", the German Headquarters reported in a document that the following settlements were destroyed: Rogoi, Kerpini, Kerpini Railway Station, Ano Zachlorou, Kato Zachlorou, Suvardo, Vrachni, Kalavrita, Monastery of Mega Spilaio, Monastery of Agia Lavra, Ag. Kiriaki, Avles, Vysoka, Fteri, Klapatsouna, Pyrgaki, Valtsa, Melissia, Oblu Monastery, Lapanagoi, Mazi, Mazeika, Pagrati, Morohova, Derveni, Derveni, Valtos, Planitero, Kalyvia (4 km west of Mazeika).

696 Greeks were shot.

Also as loot were taken:
259,623,000 drachmas in circulation
12,460,000 Drachmas out of circulation
5,740,000 Notes (devalued).
1930 sheep, 19 cattle, 27 small mountain horses, 28 donkeys, 1 horse.
14 shotguns, 5 pistols, 1 flare pistol, 1 pair of binoculars, Italian rifle ammunition and hunting ammunition.

The Germans in their aforementioned final report counted as executed also the 30 survivors, 13 from Kalavrita and 17 from the surrounding villages, who were unconscious because of their wounds.

This makes the total number of the executed up to 668.

At Easter 1944, four months after the Holocaust of Kalavryta, German troops entered the city of Kalavryta and used the house of the headmaster of the High school Oikonomos who had been executed on 13-12-1943, which had not been set on fire, as their headquarters.

In June 1944, German troops again entered the devastated city of Kalavryta.

In the morning (8:00 a.m.) of October 12, 1944, General Felmy, accompanied by the Mayor of Athens Georgatos, laid a wreath at the monument to the Unknown Soldier on Syntagma Square, while the German motorised columns were already leaving Athens through Iera Odos. At 9:15 am the German garrison of the Acropolis proceeded to lower the Nazi flag after a total of 1,624 days of occupation (or 3.5 years, which had elapsed from April 1941 to that day) and a soldier hastily wrapped the symbol of occupation and left the Sacred Rock. Clashes followed between ELAS and Greek workers with the Nazi saboteurs, who had prevented the destruction of the Keratsini power plant. On the other hand, a significant part of the port of Piraeus was blown up by the retreating Germans.