Ionian Village

Ionian Village, soccer field

The camp was established in 1970 at the initiative of Archbishop Iakovos of America (of the then-Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America) as a means of fostering cultural and religious ties to Greece for the children of early-and-mid-20th century Greek immigrants in United States and Canada.

The original land grant of 2,840 acres—11,500 stremmata, or 11.5 square kilometers—of pine forest and beachfront on the north-west coast of Elis, on the Peloponnese mainland was secured by the then-Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North & South America in 1966 as a gift from the government of Greece, with supportive sponsorship from Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.[3]

In July 1975, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis visited the Ionian Village to officiate at the opening of a new recreational building (named the Ethousa) dedicated in memory of Aristotle Onassis. This building would be used for the lodging of clergy and medical staff, "Flextivities", as well as Music & Greek culture activities[4] See this photo of the commemorative plaque unveiled by Mrs. Kennedy-Onassis at the opening.

On the morning of September 8, 2016, a tornado struck Vartholomio as well as neighboring villages. The tornado made first landfall at the Ionian Village campus. The tornado caused extensive damage to the infrastructure, knocking down or uprooting over 600 pine trees, shattering the glass of the pool, destroying the petting zoo, wounding and killing some of the animals in the zoo, wrecking the Trap, destroying the botany that surrounded the walkways, damaging athletic equipment, as well as minor but significant damage to the exteriors of the cabins and the Ethousa. However, the Saint Iakovos Chapel miraculously suffered little to no damage. The damage was estimated to cost around $1.5 million in repair and rejuvenation costs. As of December 25, 2016, the Ionian Village Rebuilding Fund has raised close to $600,000.

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  The Chapel at Ionian Village is dedicated to Saint Iakovos, the brother of our Lord. Every morning and every night, campers and Staff gather here to worship together. The Chapel is located in the middle of the campus, and is the middle of everything we do at Ionian Village.
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  Renovated in 2013 thanks to a grant from the FAITH Endowment, the Ionian Village pool is a state of the art facility. A fully chlorinated, filtered pool with space for everyone at camp to come and hang out and enjoy the weather. When not at the beach, the camp can be found at the pool, jamming out to music as they work on their tans.
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  Commonly known as The "Trap”, the Trapezaria is a covered eating space is where the camp gathers three times a day to partake in the amazing food that Kyria Sophia offers the campers daily!
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  One of the programmatic sessions of the day, the Arts and Crafts Pavillon is home to the creative spirit of our campers, where they work on different projects to take home, as well as to beautify the campus.
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  Every Sunday, the entire camp gathers right next to the sea to worship Jesus Christ and receive His body and blood during the Divine Liturgy.
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  The Amphitheater is home to many of the evening activities of Ionian Village. Whether its Greek Invasion, the Pentathlon, Music Fest or Night with God, most evening campers can be found here as the sun fades away and the stars come out.
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  A sacred space, the Pines are home to our Orthodox Life sessions, where campers and Staff have discussions about their faith and their relationships with God.

• Ionian Village website
• Ionian Village Vimeo videos
• Helicopter video fly-over of Ionian Village seaside campus
• Google Maps satellite view of the Ionian Village campus
• YouTube: Archival home movie of camp session, July 1975
• Travel Blog composed by Rev. Dr. Christopher Metropulos as part of Orthodox Christian Network's reporting visit to Ionian Village, July 2009

37.8314°N 21.1537°E / 37.8314; 21.1537