Limonos Monastery (Agios Ignatios Monastery)

An important role in the religious, educational and intellectual history of Lesvos has been played by the Limonos Monastery.

Famous for its collections and its excellent library of manuscripts it attracts pilgrims but also those who seek rare relics and documents. The Monastery is located next to Kalloni and was called Limonos due to the meadow on which it is built (limonas is the Greek word for the meadow) for the last five centuries that has operated without interruption. It was founded in 1526 by St Ignatios Agallianos over the ruins of a Byzantine monastery and was dedicated to Archangel Michael. Since then it has been a place of asceticism and worship for the wide surrounding area.

At the shrine of the Monastery they keep the relics of St Ignatios and other saints, as well as a part from the Holy Cross and part from Virgin Mary’s Holy Belt.

Here one can admire the remarkable wall paintings that adorn the interior of the monastery and date from the 16th-17th century. The screen of the church is wooden-carved, gold-plated and influences by the style of Ottoman baroque. The Monastery possesses very important ecclesiastical relics, while its library hosts approximately 5,000 books. The catholicon and the surrounding courtyard area are off limits to women. An exception is the day of Celebration of Agios Ignatios on the 14th of October, when women can enter the yard of the catholicon. The Limonos Monastery also houses folklore and geological museum, a house of Lesvos and a nursing home.