Today Karytaina is a protected traditional settlement and has, alongside the remains of its Frankish castle, several other medieval and Ottoman monuments.

[2][3] The town was formerly the seat of the municipality of Gortyna, which also included the villages of Atsicholos, Katsimpalis, Kotylio, Kourounios, Kyparissia, Mavria, Sarakini, Vlachorraptis, Zoni, Palaiokastro, Karvounari, Kryoneri, Kalyvakia, Strongylo, Palatou.

[5] The site of Karytaina is often identified with the ancient city of Brenthe, but although a settlement certainly existed there before the Frankish conquest in c. 1205, few archaeological remains survive.

Karytaina was one of the largest baronies, and of special strategic importance: its position allowed it to control the southern part of the mountainous Skorta region and, through the ravine of the Alpheios valley, the main route connecting the Arcadian plateau with the coastal plains of Elis.

The third baron, Geoffrey of Briel, built the Castle of Karytaina and played a major role in the affairs of Frankish Greece in the middle of the 13th century, repeatedly defying even the Prince William II of Villehardouin.

[8] After Geoffrey's death in 1275, the barony gradually reverted to the princely domain, and was later held by Isabella of Villehardouin and her daughter, Margaret of Savoy.

[2] Also to the Frankish period, but repaired by the Byzantine lord Raoul Manuel Melikes in 1439/40, dates the 50-metre-long (160 ft) bridge that crosses the Alpheios over five arches.

Apart from its natural beauty, which includes the Vrontou waterfall, the gorge is also notable as the "Mount Athos of the Peloponnese" on account of the many monasteries that dot its walls.