Lake Doxa in Corinthia doesn't get the attention it deserves. Sitting at 900 metres above sea level in the Feneos Valley...

Lake Doxa in Corinthia doesn't get the attention it deserves. Sitting at 900 metres above sea level in the Feneos Valley, wedged between Achaia and Arcadia in the Peloponnese, the artificial lake was completed in the late 1990s and has since earned the nickname "the Switzerland of Greece" for its pine-forested mountain setting and alpine feel. Nine stone-built villages ring the lake, and a quiet road circles the water's edge through terrain that looks nothing like the sun-baked coastline most people associate with southern Greece. A small church dedicated to Agios Fanourios sits on a peninsula jutting into the middle of the lake. The history of the surrounding area runs deep. Saint George's Monastery of Feneos, originally founded in the 14th century, was relocated to higher ground north of the lake after the reservoir was built. During the Ottoman occupation it functioned as a krifo scholio, a secret school where Greek language and history were taught under occupation. By 1821 it had become a headquarters of the Filiki Eteria, the secret society that organized the Greek Revolution, with the monastery's abbot Nathaniel leading operations there alongside abbots from neighboring monasteries. Theodoros Kolokotronis later used the same area to hold strategic meetings with chieftains from Arcadia and Corinthia, making it a coordination point for the revolution across the Peloponnese. The mythology of the region goes back further still. The area was historically considered part of Arcadia, and Herodotus wrote that the river Styx originates near Feneos. Mount Cyllene, rising above the valley, was regarded in ancient Greece as the birthplace of Hermes, and Feneos served as an important cult center for the god during the annual Hermaea festival. #Greece #Peloponnese #GreekHistory