find us @ Seliana

a well kept sectret… 3000 years old

Seliana is a small, traditional and scenic village in the municipal unit of Egira, in the eastern part of Achaea, north Peloponnese, Greece.
Regarding the current name of the village “Seliana”, one version is that it has taken the name from the ancient Sel which means light – Selini which means moon – Seliana

Nature
At an altitude of 750m, surrounded by lush dense fir forests on the foothills of the mountains of Helmos and Ziria and located on the edge of the eastern slope of the valley of river Krios, overlooking the blue sea of the Corinthian Gulf. The valley hosts a soft agricultural activity from the few locals who still live in the village with orchards of mainly cherries, apples and pairs. But also wandering around the area you can discover abundance of walnuts, hazelnuts, plums, persimmons, peaches apricots, herbs, berries, wild greens and so much more. Its a productive land, offering stunning beauty of spring blossoming and colourful fruit seasons, crystal running streams and fairy springs. The landscape though, extends from the valley to what we call zone 5 up to hillsides of forests, rising up to the mountains. The zone of the Wild. A variety of Mediterranean wild life finds shelter in this precious forest lap. More than 30 different varieties of Birds life has been already monitored in the area, and badgers, martens, polecats, fallow deer, foxes, rabbits, hedgehogs, wild boars, reptiles and more live in the neighbourhood.
Water! Precious Clean Water pours out of the body of these mountains in the form of three small rivers all of which meet on the valley and create Krios. ( meaning “ruler”, also known as Crius, son of Ouranos and Gaea, the Titan of Stars and associated with the constellation Aries). On its way to the sea, running all year round it creates waterfalls and sandy little beaches accessible through different trekking paths could offer you a unique cleansing and… screaming experience entering the fresh crystal cold water.

Village
The village keeps its traditional character to date with around 60-70 stone houses that still stand tall defying the forces of time. Around 40 people spend the winter season at Seliana but during Summer more appear to enjoy the freshness of the village and children appear again at central square to play. It is surrounded by lush vegetation, centuries-old platanus trees and many springs and you can hear the rushes of the running water all year round . Some of the landmarks of the village are the 13 churches and within 2klm The Monastery of Agioi Apostoloi,is a Byzantine style, built in the early 17th century Its wood-carved iconostasis was installed in 1743. It has a guesthouse and has been designated by the Ministry of Culture as a preserved monument.. Nearby where the river Krios flows, there is an old single-arched stone bridge (1895-1905) and not too far away from the village there is also the great unexplored stalactite cave “Huhlia” that goes under the surface of the earth for 20 metres or more.

History
The area of Seliana apparently drew the attention not only of nature lovers and travellers but of archaeologists and geologists. The ancient voices are still echoing all over and beneath the earth whispering the the story of this place.

Seliana, is an important archaeological site that carries a history of 3.000 yrs. Remnants of an ancient city have been discovered believed to be the city of Felloi. On the basis of rich finds and architectural remnants is that there was a thriving, economically strong society that had contacts with the rest of the world. Especially after the last rescue excavation of the archaeological authorities that took place on the land of Re-Green (2008-2011) the belief was reinforced! The research yielded findings ranging from geometric to during the Byzantine period, with the predominant ones of the Geometric period (1050 b.C. – 700b.C) which is a special and important archaeological period for Achaea and the whole of Greece. Specifically a section of wall of the geometric times and further outside it, another part of a wall later, visible, which is part of the Hellenistic wall ((323-30 π.Χ.). In the immediate surroundings of the wall was found an arched building and south of it, on the same side, a circular-shaped building. Against this, a a gravel road was discovered which, followed the course of the ancient wall and crossed the village of Felloi, leading to the southern mountains and to the north reached Egira and in the coastal zone. A graveyard section of geometric years came to light, where a total of 28 burials were identified and investigated where a lot of were retrieved: pottery, jewelery, bronze, iron and bronze utensils, almost intact, which were products and local laboratories, as well as imports, in particular remnants of bronze findings, from Cyprus and the East Mediterranean.

Following the footsteps of Pausanias the famous Greek traveller and geographer of the second century AD there are References in his work about Felloi. “There is a road straight from the sanctuary of Zeus, between the mountains, uphill, […], which leads to Felloi […] The area of​​Felloi is suitable for the cultivation of the vine; in the rocky parts there are oak trees and wild animals, deer and wild boar. If there are Greek villages with abundant water for irrigation, Felloi must be included in them. Sacred alters exist for Dionysus and for Artemis. The statue of Artemis is bronze and features her taking an arrow from the quiver.

Seliana’s history remains quite interesting during the times of the Ottoman occupation.
The village has witnessed significant economic and cultural boom/ blossoming during 1700-1900. From 1834 to 1912, it was the capital of the former Municipality.
During the Revolution of 1821, four caves near Seliana served as shelters for mothers with their children when Ibrahim touched the area. At that time Re-Green historical building of the Guesthouse was the house of “Spai” the Tax Collector of the Ottoman army, while right after the nation’s liberation, a female Primary School was established there and served until 1903. In the year 1904, as in many other Greek villages, a two-member elementary school was constructed and donated by a benefactor Andreas Syggrou. The residents of the village, almost immediately after the 1821 revolution, began to descend to the beach to spend the winter. Slowly, their settling in the coastal villages became permanent, and this is evident from the population’s variation. Specifically: Iin 1896 there was the largest increase of popoulation reaching 761 which remained until the 1907. . In 1920, however, only 113 were there and today esp in winter there are only 40 people living permanately.

Where to travel around Seliana
Due to the geographical location of the area Seliana has always been the center of connection with he mountainous villages of Aigeira. Furthermore Seliana is also connected with the very scenic and kind of particular roads and crossings with the areas of Akrata, Kalavrita, Evrostina, Tripolis, Feneos, etc.
Some of our suggested areas to visit are villages of Aiges, Monastiri, Perithori Saradapicho, Exohi, Synevro. The ones further Feneos, Zarouhla, Solo, Peristera, Kalavryta, karya, Goura.
There is the ski center of Kalavryta, the Vouraikos Gorge, lake Tsivlou, lake Doxas and many more to do depending on the available time you have!