The Makelaria Monastery is a 6th-century Eastern Orthodox monastery located in the Peloponnese, Greece. It lies on a big rock near the villages of Lapanagoi, at a distance of 30 km from the town of Kalavryta. The monastery, one of the oldest in Greece, was founded in 532 AD and is dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos.
It has a small Byzantine church with a beautiful wooden-carved screen, on which the icon of the Virgin is placed. This is an authentic Byzantine art piece, with a distinctive feature: wherever you stand, the Virgin's eyes give you the impression that they follow you. The holy icon of the Virgin, along with a pot full of olive oil, was found in the 15th century in an area close to the Monastery.
References:Manarola is a small town, a frazione of the comune of Riomaggiore. It is the second-smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns frequented by tourists, with a population of 353.
Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name 'Manarola' is probably a dialectical evolution of the Latin, 'magna rota'. In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to 'magna roea' which means 'large wheel', in reference to the mill wheel in the town.
Manarola's primary industries have traditionally been fishing and wine-making. The local wine, called Sciacchetrà, is especially renowned; references from Roman writings mention the high quality of the wine produced in the region.