Church of Dormition of the Theotokos

The Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Ano Phigaleia, Elis, is a Byzantine church on a site of remarkable continuity. It stands where an ancient Sanctuary of Artemis Soteira once rose, a religious center that Pausanias recorded as prominent, with a stone cult image of the goddess set atop a level hilltop. The sanctuary was a focal point for sacred procession, drawing worshippers across the archaic, classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. Layers of devotion thus overlap here, where Byzantine faith succeeded an older cult on the same ground.