Religious sites in Greece
Agarathos Monastery
Agarathos is one of the oldest monasteries in Crete but its exact date of establishment is not known. Most probably, it was established during the second Byzantine period and originally belonged to the Kallergis family. According to tradition, it received its name from a Jerusalem sage bush (agarathia in the Cretan dialect), under which an old icon of Virgin Mary was found. The earliest written reference to the m ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Hersonissos, Greece
Philotheou Monastery
The Monastery of Philotheou is one of twenty monasteries on the Mount Athos peninsula and is located on the eastern side of the peninsula. It is twelfth in hierarchical rank among the monasteries. The name of 'Philotheou' is named after its founder, St Philotheos, and is derived from two Greek words which mean 'Beloved of God'. Philotheou functions as a coenobitic monastery. Founded by St Philotheos in the last quarte ...
Founded: 10th century |
Location:
Mount Athos, Greece
Vosakou Monastery
According to various historical sources, Vosakou monastery was in continuous use from the early 17th century until 1960, when the last of its monks died. In April 1676, Vossakos became a Patriarchical monastery (i.e. stauropegic), proclaimed by an act of Ecumenical Patriarch Parthenius IV. The monastery played an important role in the greater area of Mylopotamos and owned many pieces of land as well as establishments i ...
Founded: 1676 |
Location:
Mylopótamos, Greece
Vrontisi Monastery
Vrontisi Monastery is a 14th-century Eastern Orthodox monastery situated between the villages of Zaros and Vorizia, on the south slopes of Mt. Ida. It has a panoramic view of the Mesara Plain and the Asterousia Mountains. Venetian archives contain several documents referring to the Vrontisi monastery. The earliest written reference dates back to 1474. However, it is older than that but the exact year of its es ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Phaistos, Greece
Agiou Pavlou Monastery
Agiou Pavlou monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos, located on the easternmost peninsula of Chalkidiki, Greece. The founder of monastery was Paul of Xeropotamou, after whom it is named. The Monastery was founded in the late 10th to early 11th century by Saint Paul of Xeropotamou, also the founder of the Xeropotamou Monastery. Documents attest of its independence from Xero ...
Founded: 10th century |
Location:
Mount Athos, Greece
Esphigmenou Monastery
The Esphigmenou Monastery is located on the northeastern coast of the Athos Peninsula close to the Monastery of Chilandari. It is ranked eighteenth in the hierarchical order of the twenty monasteries located on the peninsula. Esphigmenou monastery has existed since the 10th century, although Athonite tradition attributes its founding to Empress Pulcheria, the sister of Emperor Theodosius II, in the 5th century. The ...
Founded: 10th century |
Location:
Mount Athos, Greece
Mount Athos
An Orthodox spiritual centre since 1054, Mount Athos has enjoyed an autonomous statute since Byzantine times. The 'Holy Mountain', which is forbidden to women and children, is also a recognized artistic site. The layout of the monasteries (about 20 of which are presently inhabited by some 1,400 monks) had an influence as far afield as Russia, and its school of painting influenced the history of Orthodox art. Mount Athos ...
Founded: 800 AD |
Location:
Mount Athos, Greece
Dionysiou Monastery
The Dionysiou Monastery is one of the twenty monasteries located on the peninsula of Mount Athos in northeastern Greece. The monastery is on the southwestern side of the peninsula. Dionysiou ranks fifth in the hierarchical order on Mount Athos and is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Dionysiou Monastery was founded in the 14th century by St. Dionysios of Koreseos. The golden bull authorizing the founding of the mon ...
Founded: 1374 |
Location:
Mount Athos, Greece
Xeropotamou Monastery
The Monastery of Xeropotamou is one of twenty monasteries on the Mount Athos peninsula and is located on the southwestern side of the peninsula. It is eighth in hierarchical rank among the monasteries. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the memory of the Forty Holy Martyrs. While tradition accords its founding to the Empress Pulcheria in mid-5th century, Xeropotamou Monastery is believed to have bee ...
Founded: 10th century |
Location:
Mount Athos, Greece
Arsaniou Monastery
Arsaniou Monastery for old men was possibly founded during the 2nd Byzantine period (961-1204). It was founded by a monk named Arsenios, after whom it was named. According to the most likely version of events, it was deserted at one point due to pirates causing problems to coastal hamlets and, like many other Cretan monasteries, it was renovated before 1600. The Church of Agios Georgios, the Catholicon of the Mona ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Rethymno, Greece
Epanosifis Monastery
Epanosifis (Upper Sifis) is one of the largest and richest monasteries on Crete. It flourished during the era of Ottoman rule and is dedicated to Saint George. The structure of the monastery is reminiscent of 17th century secular Cretan architecture with independent cells, one built next to each other. The Refectory and the priory are located west of the church. The surviving manuscripts, dating back to the 1 ...
Founded: 17th century |
Location:
Archánes-Asteroúsia, Greece
St George of Vardas Church
The church of St George of Vardas (Agios Georgios) was built in 1290 AD, and is set against the picturesque lake that was built in 1989. This is the tiniest of temples, and it has the appearance of a crudely and hastily constructed little building, almost as if a group of children put it together. This is perhaps what makes it so intriguing and charming. There is no cross on the rooftop, no dome, in fact nothing at all ...
Founded: 1290 |
Location:
Apolakkia, Greece
Platytera Monastery
Platytera Monastery is situated in Corfu city not far from the new port. It was built in 1743 but had a short life because during the war French-Russian-Turk (1799) it was destroyed. Then it was reconstructed and became one of the most important monasteries of the island for the mortal remains of Capodistria, president of Greece, and Tsavellas, hero of revolution, which are inside. This monastery is dedicated to the Bless ...
Founded: 1743 |
Location:
Corfu, Greece
Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Mosque
The Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Mosque is an early 15th-century Ottoman mosque in Didymoteicho. The 17th-century Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi records that the mosque was begun under Sultan Bayezid I (reign 1389-1402), but after his death at the Battle of Ankara and the turmoil that followed, it was interrupted. Construction was taken up again under Sultan Mehmed I (1413–1421), and the mosque was completed and inaugurated ...
Founded: c. 1400 |
Location:
Didymoteicho, Greece
Halepa Monastery
Halepa Monastery was founded at the end of the era of Venetian rule and, according to documents dating back to 1555, it owned a significant amount of property. The founder, according to an inscription at the Monastery, was Ieremias Sgouros in 1637. The monastery was destroyed during the Ottoman era but was subsequently reconstructed. Its catholicon is situated in the middle of the courtyard, but unfortunately on ...
Founded: c. 1555 |
Location:
Mylopótamos, Greece
Konstamonitou Monastery
The Kastamonitou Monastery, officially called Konstamonitou, is an Orthodox Christian monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. It stands on the southeastern side of the Athos peninsula. The monastery ranks twentieth and last in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. The monastery was founded in the mid-11th century, either by an unknown member of the aristocratic Byzantine Kastamonites fam ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Mount Athos, Greece
Myriokefala Church
The Church of Panagia ton Myriokefalon in the village of Myriokefala served as the catholicon of the Monastery of Panagia Antifonitria, dating back to the 11th century, which has not survived. The Monastery was built by Ossios Ioannis Xenos and remained in operation until the early 20th century. Apart from the catholicon, the remaining buildings date back to the 18th and 19th century. The catholicon belongs to t ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Rethymno, Greece
Ipseni Monastery
The monastery of Panagia of Ipseni (Our Lady of Ipseni) was established in the 19th century and functions normally, as it has always done, without interruption since its establishment. It is run by a group of friendly, very capable and self-sufficient nuns, who grow their own vegetables, live simple but fulfilling lives, and whose main wish is to keep their beautiful monastery among the hills going forever. Half of the c ...
Founded: 19th century |
Location:
Rodos, Greece
Pantokratoros Monastery
The Pantokrator Monastery is ranked seventh in the hierarchical order of the twenty monasteries located on the Athos peninsula. As is case of the other institutions on Mount Athos, life at Pantokrator is coenobitic. The Pantokrator Monastery is located near the Monastery of Stavronikita. The monastery was founded about 1357 by Alexios the Stratopedarch and John the Primikerios. They are buried at the monastery. Th ...
Founded: c. 1357 |
Location:
Mount Athos, Greece
Karakallou Monastery
The Karakalou Monastery is situated on the southeast side of the Athos Peninsula in northern Greece, between the monasteries of Great Lavra and Iviron. Karakalou is dedicated to the Apostles Paul and Peter. It is ranked eleventh in the hierarchical order of the twenty monasteries located on the Mount Athos peninsula. Founded in the 11th century, the monastery received its name after either the Roman emperor Kar ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Mount Athos, Greece