Evangelismos Monastery, Ikaria: The Island’s Great Monastery

Evangelismos Monastery, Ikaria: The Island's Great Monastery

Evangelismos Monastery stands as the great spiritual landmark of Ikaria, an island resting in the north Aegean where mountain ridges fall steeply toward the sea. Locals call it the Mounde monastery, and pilgrims know it as the Panagia of the Annunciation. The community holds old icons, a walled courtyard and a church that has drawn … Read more

Theoktisti Monastery, Ikaria: The Byzantine Sanctuary

Theoktisti Monastery, Ikaria: The Byzantine Sanctuary

The Monastery of Theoktisti sits deep in the granite interior of Ikaria, near the villages of Pigi and Frantato. Panagia Theoktisti gives the monastery its name, and the church anchors one of the island’s oldest religious landscapes. Enormous granite boulders surround the site, and oak woodland shades the courtyard. Pilgrims and hikers reach it by … Read more