Holy Monastery of our Lady of Kounoupia

The church was built on the foundations of an ancient temple. It is situated amongst a dense cluster of cypresses, plane trees and fir trees. According to the legend, the icon of the Virgin Mary was miraculously found up in a tree. The monastery was built around this sacred tree in the 10th century. In the left hand aisle of the church there is a spring with holy water. The monastery had close ties with Russia and thus two wonderful icons of Russian handiwork are to found there at the Great Gate. The monastery holds a 3-day celebration every 15th of August, and great numbers of pilgrims flock there.