Holy Monastery of Perivoli in Antissa

The Holy Monastery of Perivolis, dedicated to the Presentation of the Theotokos, lies southeast of Antissa, on the bank of the Voulgaris river, in a plane-tree-covered flat. It is a women’s monastery, mentioned already in a Turkish register of 1548, and flourished in the 17th century, when it housed up to 30 nuns. In the past it was a dependency of the men’s monastery of the Taxiarchs of Kreokopos; in modern times it fell into ruin. Its katholikon is a two-aisled basilica with a narthex; it is low, with narrow doors and plain exterior façades without decoration. By contrast, inside it preserves important post-Byzantine wall paintings of the 15th–16th century. Today, despite its ruined state, the monastery remains a significant monument of Lesvos’ religious and cultural heritage.