Description of the attraction
The monastery of Agia Lavra (Holy Lavra) is located on Mount Helmos at an altitude of 961 meters above sea level near the town of Kalavryta. It was built in 961 and is one of the oldest Orthodox monasteries in Greece and can be considered a symbol of the birth of modern Greece.
During its long history, the monastery was repeatedly destroyed. In 1585 it was burned to the ground by the Turks. After 15 years, it was practically restored, although the fresco painting, which the master Antimos was engaged in, was not completed until 1645. But already in 1715 the monastery was burned down again.
In 1821, the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire (Greek Revolution) began and the monastery of Agia Lavra acquired its historical significance. It was here on March 25, 1821 that the famous slogan of the Greek revolutionaries "Eleftheria and Thanatos" (translated as "freedom or death") was voiced, calling for an uprising against the Turks. On the same day, Metropolitan Herman (Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of the city of Patras) performed a doxology, blessed the Lavaron (banner) of the Greek national uprising and swore in the Peloponnesian rebels. The revolutionary flag was allegedly raised by the metropolitan under a sycamore tree near the monastery gates. During the war of liberation in 1826, Agia Lavra was again burnt, this time by the army of Ibrahim Pasha. After Greece gained independence, the church was rebuilt in 1850. Today, on the hill opposite the monastery, there is a monument to the heroes of the 1821 revolution.
During the Second World War in 1943, the Germans destroyed the city of Kalavrita and the monastery was burnt down again. It was restored already in 1950 with state subsidies and parishioners' funds.
Today on the territory of the monastery there is a historical museum, which contains valuable historical relics: books, documents, icons, paintings, etc. Among the most interesting exhibits are the gospel inlaid with diamonds donated by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, the vestments of Metropolitan Herman, silk fabrics of the 16th century from Smyrna and Constantinople embroidered with gold and silver threads. Here you can also see the Greek revolutionary flag, which marked the beginning of the liberation war for the independence of Greece in March 1821. The monastery contains the relics of St. Alexis, which were donated by the Byzantine emperor Manuel Palaeologus.
