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Mega Spileo Monastery (Source)

According to a legend an icon painted by the evangelist Lucas was found here by the shepherdess Euphrosyne. Two brothers from Thessaloniki, Symon and Theodoros, searching for the icon met in the year 362 Euphrosyne who recognized the foreigners and she revealed her secret of the discovery of the icon in a cave. There the brothers build the monastery of Mega Spileo (Great Cave).

Fires destroyed the monastery in 840, 1400, 1640 and 1934 but the monastery was rebuild. In December 1943 monks of the monastery were killed by the German occupying forces. The Monastery is a few km on a side of Mount Chelmos, near the city Kalavryta.

The icon of Panagia Megaliospiliotissa survived although the black dark color of the icon is due to the smoke of the fires.