Monastery of the Dormition of Virgin Mary, Giromeri Parga

In the middle of the steep, green gorge on the western slopes of mount Farmakovouni, near Filiates, and at a distance of 2 km from the village of Giromeri, is the impressive monastery that is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin.

According to tradition, it was founded in the beginning of the 14th century, by the monk Neilos Erichiotis, at the location where the monastery of Panagia Odegetria used to be. It was a stauropegic monastery – it fell directly under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – and it evolved into an important monastery centre and flourished a lot, which climaxed in the 16th century, period in which it is said that it hosted 300 monks. At its areas there was a school, as well as a remarkable library, which burned down in 1835. Furthermore, in the beginning of the 20th century it possessed a school for priests and its abbot was it director, while schools in some villages of the area functioned with the monastery’s expenses.

The monastery complex is surrounded by a precinct and cell complexes, and at its centre it where the catholicon dominates. The church is a small, cross-in-square with a dome supported on four columns. It was constructed in 1568, with the expenses of the voivode of Hungrovlachia Axiotis, from Pogoniani, but some of its parts are considered to belong to an older church, of the 14th century.

In the 16th century its icons were made, which combine in a unique way the Byzantine and the western artistic style, while the later wall paintings, in 1679, have a more secular style.

The screen, which was constructed probably in the end of the 18th century and was gold-plated in 1829, is a work of exceptional artistry and is attributed to craftsmen from Epirus. The icons are dedicated from the believers from Monodendri, in 1824, the works of the painter Dimitrios Papadiamantis from the village of Monodendri. At a shrine, contemporary with the screen, is the icon of Panagia Odegetria, the oldest one of the monastery, from the beginning of the 14th century. There are also a lot of sacred relics and important documents.

Nowadays it is a men’s monastery and it celebrates on the 15th of August and on the 2nd of January, feast day of Osios Neilos.