The church of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple (Eisodia tis Theotokou) in Aigion, work of the celebrated architect of Eclecticism, Ernst Ziller, is one of the most beautiful and magnificent churches in the Peloponnese. It was designed in 1893-1894 as a unique synthesis of Romanesque, Byzantine and Renaissance style, a rarity for a Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical monument. Architecturally the church is described as free cross type with dome and exonarthex. The elegant brick and stone construction, the pointed obelisks, the two impressive cupolas adorning the belfries and the intricate brickwork ornaments on the exterior attest its important artistic value.
The monument was erected on the site of a Post-Byzantine church that collapsed in the 1861 earthquake. Its carved marble iconostasis, a work of the sculptor Dimitrios Perakis, is dated to the late nineteenth century. The church was consecrated with great solemnity and formality in 1914. Since 1982, it is a listed monument of the Ministry of Culture. In 1995 the major earthquake that struck Achaia caused irremediable damage to the building, which from that time ceased to operate due to its dangerous and unstable state.
The Non-profit Civil Company AEGEAS undertook the restoration of the church in its entirety, a difficult and demanding project. The considerable complexity of the bearing structure of the nave, which is itself much for complex than usual buildings (vaults, arched constructions, wide spans of stone masonry and brick masonry), imposed precautions and special measures in its restoration. Works were carried out with respect for the monument and guideline that it should be made functional once again for the local community, avoiding any intervention that would alter its existing form. Basic axis of the tasks was to upgrade the antiseismic adequacy by employing cutting-edge knowhow and materials. In brief, works included the removal of crumbling plasters and grouting and their replacement with new ones, injecting the stone masonry and reinforcements, reconstructing the access staircases, rebuilding the obelisks and the decorative brickwork on the exterior, reconstructing the tiled roof and binding the drum of the dome with cables, construction of new plumbing and electricity and an air-conditioning system, repairing doors and windows, laying a new floor in the gallery, landscaping the grounds and installing lighting.
