Mount Varassova

Mount Varassova is situated at the Southwestern part of the Prefecture of Aetoloakarnania, in the Municipal District of Chalkeia of the Municipality of Naupaktia. In the Byzantine period it was known as the “Holy Mountain of Aetolia”, as it developed into an important ascetic center from the 10th century onwards and in the years after the Ottoman conquest.
Among the caves-ascetic abodes the most renowned one is the cave of the Holy Fathers, bearing interesting frescoes of the 10th and 11th centuries, reflecting the art of the monuments of Cappadocia and Southern Italy. According to sholarly research, Varasova was situated on the course of the “big route”, which in the middle Byzantine period started from Trapezous in the Pontic region, passed through Constantinople and Thessaloniki and ended in South Italy.
It takes about two hours trecking and climbing to reack the cave of the Holy Fathers.