Agia Moni Monastery

On this rocky and arid hill dominates the Holy Pilgrimage of Agia Moni. It is a monastery, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which is named “The only hope for eveything” This was the inscription on the icon of the Virgin Mary found by a shepherd on September 23, 1766. While a lightning had burned the area, the image was intact. The then bishop of Kythera visited the site and started find raisingfor the reconstruction of the ruins of the old monastery and cells. In 1839, the worn garment of the icon was replaced with a new gold-plated work of the goldsmith Nikolaos Spithakis. The icon is kept in Katholiko, in a marble iconostasis. The church was renovated and extended in its current form in 1840 to 1855, when Kallonas was the Bishop. At the same time, the cells and water tanks were built for pilgrims. In 1890 the special belfry was built by local craftsmen. In one of the cells, during the Nazi occupation, the priest of the monastery sent the allies information via radio, resulting in powerful blows to the forces of the axis. Today, the priest George Adikimenakis, who has contributed to the preservation of the old paths of the area, operates a traditional candlestick factory in the area of the monastery. Agia Moni is connected with the rich tradition of the island. Commissioners from each village collected donations for the pilgrimage, mainly olive oil, until the 1950s. During the 19th century, an extensive procession of the icon took place in the villages of Kythera, beginning every November. The deep tradition of Kythera is the “dekapentismos”, when families from all the settlements of Kythera flocked with loaded animals and “koumpanies” (supplies) to the monasteries of the island to stay there until the celebration of August 15. Agia Moni was and is still one of the three main monasteries of the “dekapentistes” (the people that participated in this tradition). In the past, the common experience of all Kytherians was the great feast of Agia Moni, on August 6. On the eve, groups arrived at the monastery, they set up the so-called “paragkes” or “cafes” and celebrated with violin, dance, food and they stayed overnight in the cells and in the courtyard, sleeping on the ground.