On one of the most beautiful slopes of mount Paiko, above the settlement of Pentalofos, at an altitude of 700 meters, stands lofty in the forest the powerful monastery of Saint Nicodemus of Mount Athos, which is metochi (glebe land) that belongs to the Monastery of Simon of Petra of Mount Athos, which was founded in 1981.
The central temple is double and its upper level is dedicated to Saint Nicodemus, while the ground floor is dedicated to Saints Raphael, Irene and Nicholas. In that place was moved for the first time (out of Mount Athos), the holy “kara” (the head of the holy relic) of Saint Nicodemus of Mount Athos, who was the patron saint of the monastery, a great personality of modern Hellenism and the most famous ecclesiastical writer of the 18th and 19th century.
In the few years of his life (Saint’s Nicodemus), the monastery had become one of the most impressive monasteries of Macedonia with a rich spiritual work. Today, 23 monks dwell in the monastery and are young and able to do all the building and maintenance work of the structures.
The icon-painting workshop of the Monastery is famous for the finest and excellent quality of hand-made icons’ production. The ecclesiastical sequences and ceremonies are taken place according to the rite of Mount Athos.
The relic of Saint Nicodemus was stolen in 2010, but in a miraculous way, after a direct intervention by the saint who kindly controlled the sacrilegious and made him repent, it was returned to its old place to delight the Fraternity and the hundreds of friends of the monastery.
The monastery celebrates on 14 July, at the feast of Saint Nicodemus.
