Panagia Kakaviotissa Chapel

Panagia Kakaviotissa is built inside a rocky cave on Mount Kakavos, about 4 km from Myrina. Dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin, it is a unique example of a roofless shrine, its “roof” formed by the rock itself. Access is via a path with stone steps. Its story is linked to monks from Mount Athos who settled on the island to escape Turkish raids. When they died, the last remaining ascetic decided to return to Athos. Before leaving, he entrusted the icon of the Virgin to a peasant from the Moumtzis family in Kontias and asked him to take it up to the chapel every Bright Tuesday. Then, tradition says, the ascetic turned his cassock into a boat and set sail for Athos. Thus, to this day, every Tuesday after Easter, the family’s descendants carry the icon to the chapel of Panagia Kakaviotissa, where crowds of faithful gather to venerate it.