Monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary

The Holy Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos of Psara lies on the island’s north coast, behind the mountain of Prophet Elias, 9 kilometers from town. The time of its founding, over an older church, is not precisely known; it is estimated around 1780, a period of Psara’s flourishing. Tradition holds that the architect was a Roumeliote who followed Athonite models. In a document by Patriarch Gregory V (1797) it is mentioned as a stavropegion. Before the 1824 destruction the monastery flourished, but was annihilated along with the island. The monks who escaped to Syros saved the icon of the Virgin bearing the signature of Dominikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco). Reconstruction began in the 19th century, with Athanasios Vroulos as the first abbot. He was succeeded by Ierotheos “Kistos,” who turned the monastery into a nunnery. Today, the Athonite-style katholikon survives, along with old icons, early printed books and manuscripts.