Agio Savvas Monastery Kalymnos
Agios Savvas Monastery is found about two kilometers from Pothia just above the hill to the west. Its providential position, offers all visitors a wonderful panorama that extends over the Aegean, the capital and the port up to the islands that surround it.
Entirely made of stone in the shape of a cross with a red tiled roof and round domes, it is dedicated to the Saint Agios Savvas, the patron Kalymnos saint.
Who was St. Savvas
Saint Savvas, great ascetic, icon painter, thaumaturge (he is believed to have healing powers for any disease) and confessor, was born in 1862 in Herakleitsa in Eastern Thrace and his name was originally Vassilios. At the age of just twelve he felt 'the vocation towards a monastic life and ran away' from the family to reach Mount Athos where he entered 'St. Anna's Skete and learned' the art of iconography. He then left for Jerusalem on pilgrimage and in 1887 he retired for a good seventeen years in the San Giorgio Hozeva Monastery in absolute solitude among the deserted cliffs. After his time as a novice he became a monk and changed his name to Savvas. For ten years he remained in the Jordanian desert leading a hermit's life in a very small cell that to reach it you have to climb a rope but it serves him to develop a strong inner concentration. Following the diatribes of the Arabs in the Holy Land he had to leave and chose to return to Greece. At first he moved to Patmos in the Monastery of San Giovanni, to then move again to Mount Athos, to Evia where he remained with San Nektarios for six years as a servant of the priest and where he painted the first icon dedicated to the saint. In 1925 he arrived in Kalymnos where he spent the last years of his life as spiritual father of the All Saints Convent. He died on April 7, 1947 and the legend says that as soon as he closed his eyes one of the nuns saw his soul rise to heaven above a golden cloud. He is one of the few saints recently recognized by the Orthodox Church.
The convent was founded at the end of the 20th century by the monk Hierotheos Kounounis. Many couples go to this sacred place as it is believed that San Savass is able to work miracles and help couples who have difficulty having children. The Monastery is made up of various buildings and chapels as well as a congress centre, a well-stocked library and a museum with sacred icons painted by him. The church inside is finely decorated from floor to ceiling. There are two prayer rooms where devotees can retreat to ask for help from the Saint. To this day the nuns still live but in the old part of the monastery.
There are very strict rules to enter to visit, decent clothing is required which consists of skirts and long sleeves for women while trousers and long sleeves for men. Impossible not to notice the Agios Savvas Monastery, outside there is a huge cross which is visible from the city and which lights up blue at night. In the Monastery of All Saints (Agioi Pantes) the silver coffin where rests Agios Savvas is kept.
On the Fifth Sunday of Lent, two weeks before Easter and on December 5th, there are celebrations in his honor.
How to get to the Monastery
of Agios Savvas
Reaching the Agios Savvas Monastery is very easy, you can go there either with your own vehicle following the road signs from Pothia, or with the public bus but always pay attention to the timetables or the best solution is on foot so you can enjoy all the wonderful landscape .
A stop to be included among the things to see and do in Kalymnos both for a spiritual moment and to enjoy a fairytale view of the island.