An important city of antiquity, Lousoi, known since 708 BC, is located in the area of Lousikos, between the ancient cities of Cleitor and Kynaithi. Foundations of buildings and the temple of Artemis Hermesia (= the goddess who tames) are preserved.

From the village of Kato Lousoi, the visitor can visit the archaeological site of Ancient Louses, the only one excavated in the area (accessible to the public since July 2004). It is the Sanctuary of Artemis Artemis, the goddess of domestication. The foundations of the sanctuary, as well as of the other buildings of this ancient settlement, are visible and their size reveals the prosperity of their inhabitants.

Lousoi was an important city of Arcadian Azania, with a sanctuary of national importance, on the southwestern side of Chelmos. It extended on the western foothills of Mount Lucius or Prophet Elias, in the valley of the Sudenes, and is known from 708 BC, by the Olympic champion Euryvatos. Legend connects the sanctuary of Artemis, founded in the 7th century BC, with Melaboda, who there cured the daughters of Proetus of madness. Since then they named this Artemis Day or Hermasia. In her honour the inhabitants of Lusatia held a great festival, the Imerasia, with games in which foreigners also took part. Artemis as a "day" (=favorable, with good will) received there rituals and offerings from the faithful.

The actual location of the temple and the city was first identified by the archaeologist G. Papandreou in 1886. In 1898 and 1899, with the permission of the Greek Government, W. Reichel and A. Wilhelm undertook to excavate the sanctuary on the hill. This excavation brought to light the foundations of the temple, a deposit with a significant number of votive offerings to the east of the temple, and additional excavations were begun in order to confirm the dating.

At the site "Fournoi" two houses of the Hellenistic period (3rd century BC) with clay hearths and baths with baths were excavated and investigated. The findings provide us with evidence of everyday life and local production: The inhabitants were farmers and stockbreeders, who loved hunting and were engaged in processing what they brought in. The agnuts found, the stone or clay weights used in the loom, testify to the inhabitants' weaving skills and that they made warm clothes, carpets and blankets to cope with the cold. There were wine presses for wine and the must was left to mature in large jars. Their daily dishes and kitchen utensils also give us information about their eating habits. The inhabitants had many comforts, as each house was equipped with an elaborately decorated clay hearth, with a bath and an elegant bathtub.

In 1981, the Austrian Archaeological Institute, under the supervision of Director Veronika Mitsopoulou Leon, resumed excavation work at the sanctuary of Artemis and specifically at the temple, and since 2000 it has continued under the direction of Georg Ladstatter with significant results for the city and its sanctuary.

The archaeological investigations revealed the following facts:

The Sanctuary of Artemis is an important, apocalyptic find, of Doric style, constructed at the beginning of the 3rd century BC and consisting of a central temple and lateral galleries. The temple includes a pronaos, a large cloister and a sanctuary and is accessible from the east side and from the south through a side door.

The superstructure of the walls was of stone and the exterior was characterised by a Doric façade with four columns in front and the Doric colonnade on the side wings. The building has features of a "basilica" style floor plan, while the characteristics of an elongated church with a sanctuary and a progressive attempt at a complex configuration of the interior are discernible.

The goddess Artemis was the virgin goddess par excellence who was worshipped more than any other in Greece and her specific local offensive name "Day" means "she who calves everything".

To the east, and outside the city, the great sanctuary of Artemis attracted worshippers from the end of the 8th century BC until about the 1st century AD. Χ. In recent years the city centre has come to light. A large temple dominated the small hill. In front of it is a small heroon and next to the present road to Sigouni there is a gallery of important buildings of the Hellenistic period, with earlier traces that lead us back to the Geometric and Archaic periods.