It was built for the settlement of refugees from Messinia and Arcadia and creation of a strong town, as a counterforce to Spartis.It doesn't only have temples and public buildings, but fortifications and impressive residential and burial sites,too. It features, among other things, the rare privilege of not been destroyed or covered by modern settlements and is in a flat / Mediterranean predominantly intact natural environment. This natural environment combines the mountain grandeur of Delphi and the low riverside tranquility of Olympia, the dominant volume of the bare limestone of Ithomi, where there is the acropolis, and the low fertile valley around the ancient city. One can get there by car from Athens along the road Corinth - Tripoli - Megalopolis - Kalamata or road Corinth - Patra - Pyrgos - Kyparissia - Meligalas. From Olympia a travel by car is required for about an hour.
The city was protected by a circular wall built from large evenly-structured huge stone rocks of thickness from 2 to 2.5 m and height 4.5 m. The perimeter extended to 9,024 m, down from both sides of the mountain Ithomi an area of worship for Ithomata Zeus. The wall is technically one of the finest examples of architecture and fortification of the fourth century BC, with two gates on the east, the 'Laconian' the northwest, the 'Arcadian'.
The Arcadian Gate is double and inside it there is a large circular courtyard and the walls bore battlements and towers overhead periodically and loopholes in two floors. The city center was in the location of today's village Mavromati, while the Market was, according to what was known until 1986 and information that came to light during excavations conducted at ancient Messina by Professor of the University of Crete, Petros Themelis,The Arsinoe or Callirhoe Crini.
Inside the archaeological site was the Asklipio, temples of Poseidon, Aphrodite and Demeter, statues of the Mother of the Gods (work of Damophon the Messinian) of Lafias Artemis Eileithyia and the Dioscuri, the memorial statue ofAristomenis, Gym ('Gymnasium') and the Sevasteion or Kaisareion building dedicated in 14 AD at the worship of Roman emperors.
Close to the Market there are found remnants of the Court from the Alexandrine era, Ierothysio, and there were statues of all the gods of ancient Greece and the founder of the city's general Epaminondas, and the ruins of the Theatre, of the parliament and the Stadium.
It was the capital of the federation of messinian cities (338-191 BC) and flourished during the Achaean and Aitolian league.