2 stops in walking order

Historic Site

Celetrum or Keletron was a town of Orestis region in Upper Macedonia, situated on a peninsula which is surrounded by the waters of a lake, and has only a single entrance over a narrow isthmus which connects it with the continent. Celetrum has been identified with the Celaenidium or Kelainidion (Κελαινίδιον) of Hierocles. The town also bore the name of Diocletianopolis (Διοκλητιανούπολις) and Justinianopolis (Ἰουστινιανούπολις). In the first campaign of the Romans in the Second Macedonian War, in 200 BCE, the consul Sulpicius, after having invested this place, which submitted to him, returned to Dassaretia, and from thence regained Apollonia, the place from which he had departed on this expedition. The position is so remarkable that there is no difficulty in identifying it with the modern town of Kastoria. The lake, which bears the same name, is about six miles long and four broad (10 by 6 km). The peninsula is nearly four miles (6 km) in circumference, and the outer point is not far from the centre of the lake. The later fortification of Kastoria consists only of a wall across the western extremity of the isthmus, which was built in the time of the Byzantine Empire, and has a wet ditch, making the peninsula an island.

~20 min at this stop

Historic Site

Panagia Koumpelidiki is one of the oldest churches in Kastoria, Greece and is considered to be both typical and unique. There is no information left on the name of the patron, the architect or the reason for the building of the church. Many opinions exist on the age of the church. While all dating efforts until today have failed, archaeologists managed to define a timeframe within which the church was built. Based on this time frame, the church is placed between the 9th and 11th century. The church is a Triconch Temple, located in the acropolis of Kastoria, inside the Justinian Walls, and is the only one in town with a dome, from which it took its name. Koumpelidiki comes from the Turkish word koubeb meaning "dome" or "domed building". The name of the church means "Church of the Virgin with the Little Dome" and it is devoted to the Virgin Mary.

~20 min at this stop