In an area with many ancient temples and monuments sits the mostly overlooked Church of Agios Demetrios of Diakos. The church is named after Athanasios Nikolaos Massavetas, a hero during the Greek War of Independence. Massavetas was born in central Greece in 1788 into a family of Klephts (Greek highwaymen). Drawn to religion as a youth, he was sent by his parents to the Monastery of St. John the Baptist at an early age. By age 17, he had become a monk, and not long after, moved to Athens to…
