Panachrantou Monastery
The Holy Monastery of Panachrantou in Andros
The Monastery of Panachrantou in Andros is located on the north side of Mount Gerakones and is the most beautiful Byzantine monastery on the island. The view from the monastery on the cliff of Gerakones is taking your breath away and give you the feeling that you are flying into the space. All the villages of central Andros and Chora are at your feet. The architectural layout of the monastery makes you believe that you are in a labyrinth. The imposing and massive rocks that surround it created caves, the largest of which were also used as hermitages by older monks.
The monastery houses the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary, which is said to be the work of the Evangelist Luke. Many people call the monastery Agios Panteleimon, since there is kept his Sacred Skull there. Particular value have the two beautiful post-Byzantine wood carvings, the iconostasis and the door leaf of the entrance of the narthex.
The Monastery of Panachrantou through the centuries
There is not much information about the foundation of Panachrantou monastery except two manuscripts and local tales that set its foundation in 960 AD the year that two monks were seeing a "persistent" light from the opposite mountain at the point where the Monastery is located today who they rushed to explore. After a lot of search, they found the icon of the Virgin Mary under a cave and took it with them to the opposite mountain. The next day the icon had disappeared and the same light reappeared the same evening in the same place.
This phenomenon happened several times and despite all the prayers the icon was returned back. The monks finally settled permanently near the cave, where they built a small hermitage. The news spread and attracted several monks who formed the first Brotherhood. Nikiforos Fokas, returning from a victorious campaign in Crete and fulfilling a vow, left a lot of money to Andros and the Monastery of Panachrantou. With this money the monks built its first buildings.
The monastery observes saint Panteleimon on July 27 and the Fifteenth of August. Access to the Monastery of Panachrantou is from the village of Vouni or from the village of Falika.