HOLY MONASTERY OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF ANO VATHEIA

Pure white stands the Monastery of St. Nicholas, built in a magical location northeast of Ano Vatheia (7 km away), nestled among the green plane trees and cypresses, with a magnificent view of southern Evoikos and the opposite coast of Attica.

The visitor, passing through the monastery's main gate, sees in the courtyard the enormous plane tree, about 1000 years old, while the fountain at its root flows incessantly with crystal-clear water.

Although information is not sufficient and evidence regarding the monastery's foundation and staffing is not indisputable, experts accept that the first monastic brotherhood settled in the mid-15^th century (1455). The Katholikon, in honor of Saint Nicholas, was rebuilt from 1460 to 1463 and immediately painted using the fresco technique. Many of these paintings survive to this day.

The Church, a single-aisle cross-in-square basilica, is the only ancient building of the Monastery that escaped the decay of time and natural disasters.

It appears — from the few existing elements — that the life of the Monastery remained uninterrupted until the early 18^th century, when intense struggles began in various parts of Greece against the Turks.

The modern history of this ancient Monastery began in 1963 with its conversion into a women's monastery and the settlement of 5 nuns under Abbess Makaria Mitsopoulou (+1988) in the semi-ruined buildings. Through fundraising, donations, the personal work of the nuns, and many residents of nearby villages, the first wing of cells was built initially, followed by new wings, chapels were rebuilt (St. Theodosios the New and St. Nektarios), a new iconostasis was created (1973), workshops for iconography and embroidery were established, the cemetery of the Metropolitans of Chalkida (Neophytos Adam, Kallinikos Kampanis, Christoforos Stamatiadis, Eugenios Depastas, Panteleimon Kriezis, Chrysanthos Provata, Grigorios Pleiathos, and Nikolaos Selenti) was established in the courtyard, as well as a cemetery for the nuns outside the monastery walls.

The Katholikon houses relics of the Saints: Nicholas, John Chrysostom, Charalambos, Xenophon, Paraskevi, Saint David, Arsenios of Cappadocia, and Panteleimon.

Feast Days: St. Nicholas (6/12 and 20/5), St. Theodoros the New (7/8), and St. Nektarios (9/11).

Abbess: Nun Makaria (5 nuns).

Phone: 22290.36070.

Postal Address: 340 06 Ano Vatheia.