Greece has around ten thousands churches and many more thousands chapels that are impossible to be counted. They can be found all over the country. Big or smaller, new or old they are almost everywhere. But there is one that stands out. A very special, even peculiar construction, that is very difficult to describe and practically impossible to classify.
Because Agia Fotini of Madinia is one of a kind. Actually it is a life's work of a man that conceived it, designed it and practically built it with his own hands, working all day with a few assistants during the construction. Not the average architect, far from it and definitely not an average work.
When I first saw it, my impression was that I entered a Harry Potter book. The building looks alive, as if it is growing from the ground and it is about to start moving!
And although it is relatively new as it has, more or less, the same age with myself, it looks ancient. The fact that it is built a few meters away from the archeological site of Mantinia as well as the two complementary buildings that look even more ancient, support the illusion even more.
According to Costas Papatheodorou the architect and creator of this amazing church, this project ties ancient Greece with christianity. In my mind this concept is highly contradictory. Maybe if I had the chance to talk with Mr Papatheodorou in person I could understand his reasoning better but I have only found one interview posted online, so my recourses in order to fully understand his vision are quite limited.
I do understand though why he was excited with the location and I appreciate the devotion, the passion and the care that he showed towards his work. It is obvious that nothing has been left to chance, that every rock, every brick, every piece of marble has been placed exactly at the position that it was supposed to be.
In the picture above there are the ruins of the ancient city that used to be there. Not much to see anymore. The church is now the attraction. I can't tell if it is for the best but the truth is that I was there to see the church and not the archeological site!
And I didn't regret it, not at all :)
This is also my contribution to the photo quest hosted by the 
The camera that I used is a Canon EOS 850D with an EF-S 18-135mm lens attached. I edited the photographs in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
All the pictures and the words are mine.
Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.
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