Chrysa Savvidou

The ruins of the Frankish monastery of Isova lie just outside the village of Trypiti (formerly Bitzibardi) on the borders of Ellis and Arkadia. In addition to the monastery katholikon, scattered building remains of the other monastery facilities can still be seen, as well as the church of Ayios Nikolaos.

The monastery is mentioned in the Chronicle of the Morea and is known to have been destroyed in 1263 during the battle at Prinitsa, when it was torched by Turkish mercenaries in the service of the Greeks.¹ It has not functioned since this date. Traces of fire can still be seen that confirm the statement in the Chronicle of the Morea that the monastery was burned down. There is, indeed, a legend that the Greeks felt a sense of guilt for their action and when, shortly afterwards, they were defeated by a numerically inferior Western force, they thought they saw the Virgin of Isova on a white stallion leading the Frankish cavalry.

About a hundred metres from the north wall of the Panayia can be seen the ruins of the church of Ayios Nikolaos, which was built after the destruction of the church of the Panayia in 1263.

Over the centuries, these ruins came to be known to local memory as the ‘palace’, an indication of the impression still made by them many years after their abandonment. Various foreign travellers visited the site during their travels in Greece.² Of their narratives, we may single out the description by W.M. Leake, who says: “I am not a little surprised to find that the palace is the ruin of a Gothic church or hall, of which one end is entire, terminating above in a high angle”,³ and: “The whole has the appearance of a ruined abbey in England, and the scenery is well adapted to increase the illusion”.⁴

J. Buchon,⁵ who visited the monastery in the 19th century, attributed it to Benedictine monks, and this is supported both by N. Moutsopoulos⁶ in his writings and by R. Traquair.⁷ In contrast, B. Kitsiki-Panagopoulos holds that it was a Cistercian monastery,⁸ adducing the austerity that is a feature of the architecture of this monastic order and the fact that they built their monasteries far away from inhabited areas and other monasteries, which is the case with Isova. Cistercian monks usually built their own monasteries and rarely used an existing building for their shelter. This monastic order was one of the most important exponents of the Gothic style and contributed to its dissemination outside France.