Description of the attraction
The Osis Potapios Convent (Monastery of Blessed Potapios) is one of the most famous and revered Orthodox shrines in Greece. The monastery is located about 14 km from the town of Loutraki on the slope of the picturesque Mount Gerania at an altitude of 650-700 m above sea level.
The monastery was built in honor of Saint Potapius. He was born in the 4th century AD. in Egyptian Thebes in a family of devout Christians. Having received an excellent education, he decided to become a hermit and settled in the desert. Many people came to him to listen to his righteous speeches and receive wise advice. Years later, Saint Potapius went to Constantinople and settled in the Blachernae region. There he founded a monastery, where he lived until the end of his life and was buried.
In 536 the monastery was destroyed, and the relics of St. Potapius were transferred to the monastery of St. John. In the 14-15th centuries, the monastery of St. John was under the protection of the imperial family of the Palaeologus. The holy monastery was also patronized by the august Helena Dragash herself - the mother of the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire, Constantine XI Palaeologus, who later took monastic vows with the name Ipomonia (canonized by the Orthodox Church as a saint). After Constantinople was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1453 in order to protect the relics of the saint from the Turks, Aggelis Notaras (nephew of Elena Dragash) transported them to Mount Gerania and hid them in a cave skete. Here they were found in 1904, along with a wooden cross resting on the chest, parchment confirming the identity of the deceased, and Byzantine coins. The monastery of Osis Potapios was founded only in 1952.
The monastic complex includes the main catholicon of the monastery - the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Church of the Virgin Mary, a cemetery with a small chapel of St. Mary of Egypt, monastic cells, a hotel for pilgrims and, of course, the cave of St. Potapius, where the relics of the saint rest in a wooden casket. In the cave, you will see magnificent wall paintings by an unknown artist (presumably dated to the 15th century). The head of Saint Ipomonia is also kept in the monastery of Osios Potapios.
To climb to the monastery, one has to climb 144 steps. They say that ascending these steps and reading a special prayer, a person receives absolution. The monastery has a special observation deck with fantastic panoramic views.
