MONASTERY OF PANAGIA (MARY) SPILIOTISSA

The Monastery of Panagia Spiliotissa, one of the most important religious monuments in the area of ​​Zagori, is built between the villages of Aristi and Papigo, on the left bank of Voidomatis river and perched on a rock. To get to the stone monastery complex you should head from Aristi towards Papigo and shortly after, before the bridge of Aristi on the left side of the road, you will find the dirt road leading to the monastery. You must leave your car and walk a path through the trees that lasts less than five minutes to reach the Monastery of Panagia Spiliotissa. According to I. Lambridi, the monastery was built in 1579.  Other inscriptions place the founding of the monastery in 1655 by monks Joachim and Sophronios while was narrated eight years later, in 1673, by painters John, Demetrius and George. The construction of the building has been the implementation of many architectural techniques of the craftsmen of the time. The monastery now, although kept in very good condition, does not function and is closed. The monastery has been declared a historical monument and celebrates the day of Zoodochos source.

The Monastery of Panagia Spiliotissa is growing in and on a vertical rock at many levels, which are connected with ladders and hatches. It is in perfect harmony with the environment, because some of the cells are built in such a way as to incorporate parts of the rock. The church is single-aisle basilica with dome and internally covered by excellent technical frescoes of the 17th cent., which is not well maintained. The monastery painted in 1673 by the monk Parthenius. The temple of the monastery is carved and the abbot is decorated with plant representations of Epirus painter G. Anastasiou in 1874. Formerly, the monastery had owned a large estate. There fled and hid the inhabitants during the Turkish occupation. But the monastery functioned as a spiritual center as well as taking care of the students' studies of Aristi and the nearby villages. The decline was soon to occur when with the decision of the Turkish courts in the 19th century was decided to expropriate monastery property. The Monastery of Panagia Spiliotissa then looted and set on fire, while in 1897 after an earthquake the cells collapsed.