Oleni is a village near the Tower of Ilia. The “Castle of Olena” refers to a great medieval town that stood on a hill 1 kilometer east of the modern village, Oleni.

Only a few ruins remain of the medieval town and its fortifications, the most visible of which are the remains of a gate.

The church shown in photos 4,5 is a small church of the 19th century that was built on the ruins of the Byzantine church of Metamorphosis, the so-called, today, “Episkopi”. But this church was lower and at a distance of about 700  meters from the castle, and it was next to the cemetery of the medieval settlement. Photos 1, 6 show another church, that of Agios Georgios, which is right under the castle.

History

The fortification of Olena is the work of the Byzantines, probably from the 9th century. The gate that is preserved is a remnant of the Frankish period. The town and castle stood on the flat top of a hill and covered an area of about 50,000 sq.m.

The city was large and rich because it was the seat of the diocese of Elia. The proximity to Ancient Olympia, the stronghold of paganism, made the diocese particularly important.

At the beginning of the Frankish rule, in the 13th century, Olena was the second most populous city in the region, after Andravida. However, it does not seem to have existed since ancient times. The city of Olenos which was in Kato Achaia has nothing to do with this medieval Olena in the area of Pyrgos.
In the first year of the Frankish rule, in 1205, by the decision of the Franks, the episcopal seat was moved to the capital Andravida.

Olena must have come under the control of the Byzantines of Mystras before the final end of the Principality of Achaea (1430). In 1460, the area was conquered by the Ottomans during the second invasion of the Morea by Mohammed II the Conqueror.

In 1463, with the outbreak of the First Venetian-Turkish War, Olena was among the castles of the northwestern Peloponnese captured by the Venetians.

In Hopf’s tables, Olena is included in the list of castles of 1463 (as Olena or Helena) and in that of 1467 (Olena). In both cases it is recorded as a Venetian possession.

The Vrachy Chronikon of Sfrantzes mentions that in 1470 Olena is one of the Venetian castles that was surrendered to the Turks under Tourahanoglou Omer Bey]. together with the castles Vostitsa, Goumero, Helidoni and Pontikokastro.
Even though Sfrantzes mentions that only Pontikokastro was destroyed during that campaign, it is very possible that the other the castles (Vostitsa, Goumeros, Olena and Helidonio) were also destroyed, because since then there is no mention of castles in these places.

After the end of the Frankish rule, Olena again became the seat of the Orthodox bishop, but the decline had already begun and continued during the Turkish rule. At the end of the 17th century, it is reported by the Venetians that Olena is destroyed.

The bishopric was initially moved to Gastouni and later –perhaps at the end of the 18th century– to Pyrgos.

The last bishop in the history of the Diocese of Oleni was the ethnomartyr Filaretos (1802-1821) who was slaughtered in September 1821 by the Turks in the prison of Tripolis.

Sources