Armpounas

Below the rocky summit that carries the chapel of Prophet Elias, a fortified cave opens in the vertical cliff face, roughly 700 metres northwest of the village of Armpounas in the Kalavryta region of Achaea. Known locally as "Chtisti Spilia", or Built Cave, it is a refuge rather than a formal castle, and its condition today is rather poor. A second, smaller fortified cavity, called "Parathyraki" (small window), is said to exist somewhere nearby. No documentary record survives to fix its date, but the type belongs to the Turkokratia, when such caves sheltered the local population from danger, and possibly served as a hideout for a kleftis. The most plausible construction period is the 18th century, give or take a few decades. What remains is a rough, functional hiding place cut into the rock, its story left largely to inference.