The Monastery (a convent) is named after its founder who died in 1920
and was canonised in 1961. Aghios Nektarios is the most recent Saint of the Orthodox Church. The monestry has been built by Aghios Nektarios himself between 1904 and 1910 on top of the ruins of an older Byzantine church. His relics are preserved in the first chapel.

The impressive church erected in the honour of Aghios Nektarios is one of the largest in the Balkan.

Located at a 15-minute bus ride from Aghia Marina:
Open daily: No shorts, please - and ladies modestly attired.


Aghios Nektarios was born in Thrazia in 1846.
He came from a poor family and had to go out and
look for a job very early. When he was 14 years old,
he went to Constantinopel (Istanbul) to work in the
tobacco-industries. In his free time he learned how
to read and write. Later he worked as a teacher on
the island of Chios and 1875 (he was just 30 years
old), he became a monk.

The clerical authorothies were very impressed by
him, expecially the bishop of Alexandria. He was
nominated as a diakon and sent to Athens to com-
plete his studies.

After nine years he was called to be the Archimandriste of Cairo. He was promoted to the secritary of the Patriarchater he was sent to be the bishop of Pentapoli in Lybia. Developing his own ideas about God and the religion, he was accused of atheism. After years of fight he gave up and returned back to Aegina, three nuns followed him. He built the monestry "To The
Holy Trinity"- it was administered by the community and he was the
clerical leader.

   In 1920 he got sick and went to
   hospital in Piraeus, where he
   died in the third class station!
   After his death a lot of wonders
   happened - they all were
   ascribed to him. In 1961 he was
   canonized by the Greek-
   Orthodox Church - the 9th of
   November is dedicated to him.
   Old inhabitants of the island still
   remind him as a very simple
   person.

Although his performance was more in the humanity dimensions, he's one
of the most popular patron saints of Greek.

   Orthodox churches are built in a way for the
   people to feel homely. In the orthodox religion the
   human is seen as a potential sinner with the
   inclination to inconstancy. That means that the sin
   is a property of every human - the church must
   forgive but not punish.

   The namedays of the patron saints are a good
   reason for celebrations and banquets. Even the
   churches change to real meeting places for the
   people to go and enjoy social life.

   There is no fanatic but a dignified celebration.
   In the villages on the island you can find the priest in the tavern, in the cafe or on the field like anybody else. They are also allowed to marry - for not loosing the connection to normal life. So we have a holy man here- a former worker and teacher who died in an ordinary hospital and who is still known by some of the people living here, personally. The orthodox religion is made for the people - that's the sence of the doctrine. If you want to visit the monestry, make sure your arms and legs are covered, we now know: Everybody is just a sinner!!

After visiting the Monastery, if you have the energy, had up the hill behind
to explore Palaiochora hill with it's many churches.