The Pamegiston Taxiarchon monastery of Argolis

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The monastery is located a hundred metres left of the Lygourio – Korithos old highway, at the village of Dimena. It was built in the middle of the 15th century by a team of monks who came down from the mountainous monastery of Kalami. Not much has been rescued from the temple and the original buildings of the monastery, only part of those that were supported with the first refurbishment of the monastery in 1593.

Monk Nifon was one of its founders, who later became the first Archbishop of Thessaloniki and then Patriarch of Constantinople, and was recognized as a Saint immediately after his death in 1508. His memory is honored on August 11. The Holy relics of St. Nifon’s Assistant, Agios Gavriel (St. Gabriel) are held in a silver sheath at the Catholic of the monastery.

Since 1945 it operates as a nunnery, as the sorority took the baton and continued the historical life of the monastery with monk Theoklitos Samiotis as general manager. The old catholic of the monastery was demolished in 1945 and the present church was built in its place under the care of the nuns. The monastery originally extended to a quadrilateral complex of buildings with the Church of the Archangels in the center, of 21 sq.m. A small Byzantine cruciform church with a dome was built in its place, with murals of Mount Athos. Later, a narrow elongated vestibule (or porch) was added to the original building (to save space), making the distance from the Byzantine models even wider. The current Temple of Taxiarches is very nicely decorated and ideal for the daily prayers of the monks and the accommodation of the visitors.

Only a few meters from the precincts of the monastery there is the small church of Agios Georgios (St. George), the funerary chapel of the monastery and the oldest building. In the interior, on the western wall, at a height of approximately 2 m. and on the right side of the entry, there is an inscription of the year of its refurbishment, 1597. The only hagiography that survived through times is a fresco of the sanctuary, called Platytera.

The monastery has offered a lot in the region and the Greek nation in general. The first minutes of the National Assembly were kept here, while in the years of slavery the monastery made considerable efforts to preserve the Greek language and religion. After the establishment of the Greek State it maintained a school on its premises, covering the teacher’s salary.

The monastery accepts a large number of pilgrims, while the nuns deal with both rural and craft works such as needlework, Byzantine icons and embroidery.