The strong fortification wall of ancient Messene, with its towers and gates, survives to a length of 9.5km, encircling not only the city, but also Mt. Ithomi, where several sanctuaries had been founded. The city was still inhabited during the early christian and the middle byzantine periods, albeit its area having being limited to the foothills of Mt. Ithomi, at the site of present day Mavrommati. The area is mentioned already in the 10th century as Volkano or Voulkano, hence the name of the old Voulkano monastery on top of Mt. Ithomi, which was the site of the ancient sanctuary of Zeus Ithomatas. Due to the inaccessibility of the location the monastery was abandoned and the fraternity moved to the new Voulkano monastery, founded at the beginning of the 17th century on the eastern slope of Mount Eva. The new monastery became a major site of pilgrimage from the 19th century onwards. A few kilometres west of ancient Messene lies the most impressive monastic complex of the Messenian countryside, the Andromonastiro, founded in the 13th century and active until the 19th century. Not far from ancient Messene and to its south, near the village Ellinoekklisia, one of the most beautiful byzantine monuments in the Peloponnese, the elegant church of Zoodochos Pigi (the life-bearing fountain), dominates a lushly vegetated valley. A notable stop along the itinerary is the castle of Androusa, further south. It is a representative example of the fortification architecture of the Francocracy (Frankish period / 1204-1430), which was modified during the first period of Ottoman rule.