Aegina · Paleochora & the interior · Μονή Αγίου Νεκταρίου
Agios Nektarios, the island's saint
The convent of a saint of the twentieth century, one of the most visited places of pilgrimage in Greece
Paleochora & the interior · Aegina
About Agios Nektarios Monastery
The Holy Trinity convent, known to everyone as Agios Nektarios, stands in the valley below Paleochora, about 6 km from Aegina Town. It was founded in the early twentieth century by Nektarios Kephalas, a bishop who retired to Aegina and died in 1920; he was declared a saint by the Orthodox Church in 1961, and pilgrims from all over Greece and beyond come to pray at his tomb and his simple cell. Next to the old convent rises a huge new church in Byzantine style, one of the largest in the country, begun in the 1970s.
Good to know
Before you go to Agios Nektarios Monastery
Getting there
On the road and bus route from Aegina Town to Agia Marina, about 10 minutes by car. Cover shoulders and knees; wraps are usually lent at the entrance.
When to go
Weekday mornings, when it is quiet. On the saint's feast day the whole island and boatloads of pilgrims come, which is worth seeing but very crowded.
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