At a distance of a few metres from the market, above the alley that leads west, towards the parking area, we come across the residence of the Spiliotopoulos brothers, Nikolaos and Spyridonas. The residence has historical significance, as it housed the renowned merchants of the Dimitsana gunpowder. The Spiliotopoulos brothers settled in merchant – naval, pre-revolutionary Hydra, where they played a vital role. They returned to their homeland on the eve of the War for Independence and they became the most important gunpowder providers to the Greek rebels.
This is pointed-out in the built-in sign: ‘Here were born those that lit the torch of freedom’, and in the phrase Theodoros Kolokotronis told the editor of his Memoirs: ‘We had gunpowder. Dimitsana made it. The gunpowder issue had been taken on by the Spiliotopoulos brothers, and in order to allow them work on it, we didn’t call many of Dimitsana’s men to the war-camp’.