Taxiarches

On a hill southwest of Neochori, in the municipality of Missolonghi, stand the rather poor remains of the Taxiarches monastery. Founded in 1742, it served the Greek fighters of the War of Independence, but was abandoned shortly after the end of Tourkokratia. The church is the only building still in relatively good condition. Among the other structures, a large and sturdy tower, now mostly ruined, remains conspicuous. This tower was the abbey, and its construction date, 1742, is inscribed upon it. What survives today is a castle-monastery in a state of decay, its defensive bulk and sacred purpose both legible in the rubble, a quiet relic of a turbulent century.