Monastery of Panagia Varnakovas

About

The Panagia Varnakova Monastery is one of the most historic monasteries in Greece. It was founded during the mid-Byzantine period, in the year 1077, by Saint Arsenius the Varnakovite and quickly emerged as a religious center of great influence, a position it maintains to this day, called "the Holy Lavra of Roumeli". Its characteristic name "Varnakova" probably comes from an older Slavic toponym. The monastery is located at the southwestern end of the Phocis, in the former municipality of Efpalio, approximately 25 km northeast of Nafpaktos, on the old road of Lidoriki. It is built on a small hill on the outskirts of the Vardousia Mountains and at an altitude of about 750 meters, in a dense forest of oak and horse chestnut trees, with views towards the mountainous Nafpaktia, Doris, Mount Giona and the Mornos river. The top relic of the monastery was the miraculous icon of Panagia Varnakova. The icon bore an obvious crack along the face of the Virgin, which according to eyewitnesses was created by a local earthquake on August 15, 1940, at the time of the torpedoing of the Elli in Tinos. It was destroyed by fire on Sunday, June 14, 2020, along with other historical relics.

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Places within walking or a short drive, best first.