Monastery of Koimisis Theotokou(Panagia in the Cave)

At the entrance of the village Spilaio of Grevena, one of the oldest traditional villages of Western Macedonia, which is built at an elevation of 960 meters, is situated the historic monastery of Koimisis Theotokou (Dormition of the Virgin).

It was founded in 1633, when archbishop was Gabriel from Milea in Metsovo and initially it was under the Archbishopric of Ohrid, while after 1767 it came under the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Throughout the period of the Ottoman domination it played an important role to the education of the area and contributed to the liberating struggles of its people. In 1935 it merged with the Monastery of Zavorda. Nowadays, from the monastery complex only the catholicon and ground floor of one wing of cells survive.

The catholicon has all the characteristics of the Macedonian post-Byzantine architecture. It is a three-aisled basilica with a dome, bema with three apses on the east, and a narthex on the west. At the two side walls two large conches are formed, which are called choirs, because there stand the choirs of the chanters. At a later date they added a spacious exonarthex on the west and a bell tower on the northwestern corner. The walls of the church are built largely with stones, while the conches and the two domes, the larger central one and the one at the narthex, where apses are formed.

At the interior, the church is richly decorated and its decoration belongs to two stages. From the first one, in 1650, date the wall paintings of the central part of the main church, the dome and the choirs, which are the work of the painters Nikolaos and Ioannis. The icons at the rest of the church and the narthex were made in 1658 by the painters Michalis from Zerma in Epirus and Elias from Eptachori in Kastoria. The wall paintings of the exonarthex were made in 1911 and are the work of the painter Georgios Pitenis from Samarina. Remarkable works wood carving of the 17th century are the screen, the door and the windows of the church.