Monastery of Panagia Kremasti

At the beautiful gorge, filled with pine trees, between the villages of Lanthi and Labeti, on the steep rock with the enchanting view to the forest of Foloi and the mountain Erymanthos, is the impressive monastery of Panagia Kremasti. Its name came from the tradition that the icon of the Virgin Mary was found suspended into thin air inside a cave by a shepherd who came down tied to a ripe, as well as from the fact that the monastery itself seems to be suspended by the rock.

It was founded in the beginning of the 17th century, as a matter of fact am inscription that does not survive today, mentioned 1601 as the year that the church was constructed. Due to its location, which was difficult to approach, during the period of the Turkish Occupation and the Greek revolution in 1821 was the place where the Greek fighters used to meet and the people of the area sought refuge. Furthermore, it had a great contribution to the education of the Greeks and according to tradition, at its areas a secret, clandestine school operated.  In 1880 it became the metochi of the Monastery of Skafidia, it regained its autonomy for a while and in 1933 it was converted from a men’s to women’s monastery.

The catholicon of the monastery is a church formed inside a cave. In 1976 the cave was destroyed by a landslide and today only a natural cavity of the rock remains, on the west. The church has been renovated completely, is has been widened and a marble screen has been added as well as icons of Byzantine style.

At the monastery there are chapels of Agios Nectarios and Osios Antonios the Great and there is a hostel for the accommodation of the visitors. 

A lot of pilgrims visit the monastery throughout the year, especially on the 23rd of August, when the monastery celebrates and thousands of pilgrims arrive.