Saint Nikanor Zavorda Holy Monastery
On top of Mount Kallistratos, in an imposing position above the Aliakmonas River, awaits one of the most important post-Byzantine monuments of Western Macedonia, formerly a major administrative and spiritual center of the region: the Holy Monastery of Saint Nikanor. It was founded by Saint Nikanor of Thessaloniki in the 16th century, and it took its name from the old, now vanished, village of Zavorda. The oldest building of the Monastery is its katholikon (1528 or 1543/44), around which the monastic complex was developed, including the abbot’s quarters, cells, refectory, guesthouses and auxiliary spaces. Here, valuable relics are being kept, such as holy relics, icons, codices, Gospels, the Lexicon of Patriarch Photios and a rare epitaphios (embroidered burial cloth) of 1588, work of the monk Arsenios. The katholikon is dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Saviour and belongs to the type of simple, four-columned, cross-in-square church with a narthex. Inside you will see frescoes by the Theban iconographer Frangos Katelanos, as well as later repaintings of 1592, 1869 and the late 19th century, as confirmed by dedicatory inscriptions. The narthex frescoes and carved wooden iconostasis also date to the 19th century. During your tour you will encounter two 18th-century chapels, dedicated to Saint Athanasios and Saint John the Forerunner, where the tomb of Saint Nikanor is located. Dominating the complex is the impressive three-storey bell tower of 1873, 20 metres high.
