Monastery of Panagia Eikosifoinissa (Monastery of Kosinitsa)

On the northern slopes of mountain Pangaion, near the village of Proti of Serres, is situated one of the greatest pilgrimages of Macedonia, the Monastery of Panagia Eikosifoinissa, also known as Monastery of Kosinitsa. There are various views regarding its name, from which the most likely appears to be the one that relates it to the “φοινικοῦν φῶς”, that is the reddish light that emitted from the wood, on which the figure of the Virgin Mary was recorded.

According to tradition, the monastery was founded in the middle of the 5th century by the bishop of Philippoi, Sozon. However, in reality as its first official founder we consider Agios Gernanos from Palestine, one of the missionaries to the Slavs in the 9th century. As its second founder we consider the ecumenical patriarch Dionysius I, who contributed to its renovation, in the second half of the 15th century. Throughout the Turkish occupation the monastery played an important role in preserving and enhancing Hellenism in the area. In 1507 it was destroyed by the Turks and its monks were slaughtered, but soon it was reorganized and renovated. In the beginning of the 17th century, when the metropolitan of Zichni was Jacob, the catholicon of the monastery was renovated completely and icons were made when the metropolitan of Nevrokopi was Daniel I. Later, during the period of the two world wars, the monastery was looted repeatedly by the Bulgarians, who among other things removed a significant number of Byzantine manuscripts in 1917. In 1943 the whole complex was destroyed by fire except from the catholicon. The monastery was reconstructed in 1965, when numerous nuns settled here.

From the initial, middle Byzantine stage of the monastery today only a part of the opus sectile floor survives, which dates from around 1000. The present day catholicon was constructed in the period 1837-1847 by abbot Andronikos, while from the old church of the beginning of the 17th century a part from the bema, which was renovated, survives. The main church, the liti and the exonarthex were decorated with wall paintings that were made during the years 1858-1865 by the painter Matthew Ioannou from Corinth, who mostly worked in Moldova. A large number of them were replaced by newer ones. The wooden-carved screen was constructed by craftsmen from Chios, when the abbot was Sophronius, in the end of the 18th century. Remarkable are the wall paintings of the cemetery church of Agioi Anargyroi with the present day gold plated wall paintings from the middle of the 16th century.

The monastery celebrates on the 15th of August, the 14th September and the 21st of November. In addition, on the 22nd of November celebrates the memory of its first founder, Agios Germanos, and on the 23rd of November the second founder, Agios Dionysios.

There is a hostel in the monastery.