Monastery of Pammegiston Taxiarchon, Pelion

The Women coenobitic Church of Pammegiston Taxiarchon (Archanges) in Agios Georgios, Nileia, Pelion, is half an hour away from Volos at an altitude of about 650 meters, on a natural balcony with spectacular panoramic views of Pagasitikos Gulf.

Its deepest roots originate in the middle Byzantine period, at which time the Pelion, then known as the

“Mountain of Kellia” or “Monastery”, was a famous monastic cell of the Orthodox East.

The first bloom of the Monastery occurred in the 12th century AD. It used to be a male monastery from its creation until 1920, though it had a turbulent course through time, during which it deeply marked the life and history of the place as a Panthessalian pilgrimage, with a multifaceted ecclesiastical and national presence.

The older building renovations occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries. At that time, the imposing church, honoring the venerable duo of Michael and Gabriel and all heavenly and Intangible Angelic forces, is depicted on rare frescoes and adorned with masterly carved temples and exceptional portable icons of folklore art.

It reached the height of its prestige and intellectual influence during the second half of the last century, when the abbot was the holy monk Gabriel Ioasaf, an ambiguous, holy and inspiring character of Pelion monasticism of the modern times, a spiritual child of the Ascetic state of Mount Athos.

The monastery has also a metochi on the beautiful olive grove of “Kanalia”, in Agios Georgios, Nileia. This is the oldest small monastery of the Transfiguration, which for a century had been deserted by monks, resulting in it being semi-ruined today. However, it is already being restored by the main Monastery.

The brotherhood is occupied with the well-known traditional monastic ministries, among which gold embroidery, hagiography, sewing, manufacture of incense or other, less known but equally important tasks, one of which is the operation of the radio station “MONACHIKI DIAKONIA”, transmitting the church psalms of the day, as well as a rich and benefiting 24h programme of lectures and Byzantine music. It is an invisible intervention and contribution of the Monastery to the Orthodox mission. Nikodimi Kissa is the Abbess and the sisterhood consists of 26 nuns.