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Album: By Country | By Date Greece | March 2001 < Prev: Siphnos | Next: Hiking to Kamares >
Travelogue: By Country | By Date Greece | March 2001  

March 2001 - Hike To Profit Elias Monastery

The place is now deserted but clean and curiously homey. (Profit Elias is Prophet Elijah, we think.)

View from Profit Elias. On the left is the church. The thing that looks like a sidewalk is the roof over the monk's cells. Out in front of Tote are the Cyclades - islands of which one is Sifnos
Nice houses Following some donkeys Milking the goats
Working donkey Making our way up to Profit Elias, which is also the island's highest point Inside the monastery church. The monastery is no longer used, but on weekends during the summer, people climb the mountain to help restore and rebuild things.
Inside the church Outside some of the monk's cells Looking north The dining hall. Now, there's a sign saying, "You can make coffee here," and there's coffee, sugar, greek coffee pots, two cups, a spoon, and a little bottled gas stove. Every church has candles, incense, a lamp, matches, and something to wipe your hands on. The coffee arrangement seemed similar. Amazing! (Yes. We made coffee!)
The front of the monastery's church Window Looking over to another church atop the mountain. One is never very far from more than one church. Tote
Looking up at the monastery from the little church This little church was tidy, clean, and had new icons (now molding a bit) The top of the hill We met two other hikers. They told us it was good to ring the bells and about the monastery.
Top of the monastery's church We figured since there was coffee for us, we should make sure there was at least water for the dogs of the other hikers Some thank-yous hung on the icon close up of what the thank-yous look like
Candles. Between the other hikers and the kids, quite a few were lit. Inside the church Lighting candles Religious things. Only a very, very few churches are locked
In the corner of the church. The think walls and things like this made us think the monastery may have been something else before it was a monastery There was yet another church in the bowels of the monastery, below the monks' cells On the roof View out a window
Walk down to the little church