About 150 km from the city of Athens, en route to beautiful Delphi, we find an old monastery founded at the end of the XNUMXth century: it is the Hosios Lukas Monastery, and most of the buildings that we see today are from the next century because of the oldest there is nothing left.
This monastery was very important in the greek christian church during the Byzantine period. It is located on Mount Helikonas and was founded by hosios lukas, a subject who was born after the emigration of his parents due to the Saracen invasions, in the year 896. He later became a monk who lived in various regions and became famous for his ascetic life. Due to this fame others joined him and thus was born the monastery that was built with the help of the nobles because Hosios was also famous for curing diseases and prophesying.
The monastery church is dedicated to Santa Barbara and today to the Virgin Mary, and since 955 the death of the monk is commemorated, although his cult began after the liberation of Crete in 961 and since then there are many pilgrimages to this site for many miraculous. This cult then grew and thus another church was built to house their relics, so what we see today is a monastery building, built on a slope, which contains the cells of the monks, a bell tower and two sanctuaries with a crypt where it is Hosios Lukas himself buried.
Hosios Lukas Monastery is a true jewel of byzantine art that keeps beautiful mosaics and magnificent frescoes. Today the museum is located in the octagonal church, and there is also a restaurant where rooms are rented, although of course, they are not cheap at all. It opens daily from 8am to 5:30 pm, but as the monastery is still used, women and men cannot wear shorts or skirts.
