Sights

Churches and Monasteries

Coordinates: 39.188574, 23.619047

Monastery of Taxiarches (Archangels)

Near Glossa, one of the most beautiful villages of Skopelos, in an area surrounded by pine trees, lies the historic Monastery of the Archangels (Taxiarches). It was likely founded in 1672, according to a stone plaque embedded above the entrance to its courtyard, and a dedicatory document mentions a founder named "Befanis of Dimakitzas."

From the late 17th to the late 19th century, the monastery played a prominent role in the economic life of Glossa, thanks to its large estate mainly acquired through donations. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, disputes arose between the residents of Glossa and the Monastery of Xeropotamou on Mount Athos, of which the Monastery of Taxiarches was a dependency. Thus, in 1911, to end these disputes, all of the monastery's properties were sold to the people of Glossa for 3,160 Ottoman liras or 73,000 drachmas.

Today, the abandoned monastery, protected by a pentagonal high stone-built wall, allows visitors to explore the spaces that once housed a large community of monks, such as the wing with cells, each equipped with a fireplace, the storerooms, and the beautiful small katholikon in the center of the courtyard.

The Monastery of Taxiarches appears to have been built on the site of a basilica from the early Christian period (4th-7th century AD). Evidence for its existence includes architectural remains discovered during the construction of a drainage trench around the katholikon, as well as marble architectural fragments embedded in the walls of the katholikon and sections of column shafts in the courtyard. A tomb belonging to a Byzantine cemetery, traces of which were found during the landscaping of the courtyard, was also discovered.

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