The active men’s monastery of Leimonos is located in the center of Lesvos and at a distance of 14 km from Kalloni in a fertile basin in the center of a meadow.
It was founded during Byzantine times and functioned until the Ottoman occupation of the island in 1462, when it was dissolved. The monastery was reestablished by Saint Ignatius Agallianos, an important personality who contributed to the rebirth of letters and the spirit, in 1526 and since then became a place of asceticism and worship for the entire surrounding area. The monastery had grown to have 150 monks, including the son of Ag. Ignatius. On the site of the monastery, a) the famous “Leimoniada” school functioned until 1923, the only one in the Aegean where the famous scholar Beniamin the Lesvius had also taught, b) the “Frontistirion” which was a catechetical school, boarding school and home economics school for girls, c) the School of calligraphers and copyists and d) the school of embroiderers. The St. Ignatios was abbot of the monastery for only four years, after being elected Metropolitan of Mithymni in 1531, from where he resigned in 1563 to devote himself to his monastery.
The cult complex of the Leimonos monastery consists of buildings from various periods. The catholicon dedicated to the meeting of the Grand Marshals was built in 1526 with its reconstitution and was repeatedly repaired. Its current form resulted from the last reconstruction of 1795. It is a three-aisled basilica with a raised middle aisle and a double narthex. It is decorated with frescoes from the 16th and 17th centuries. The church’s wood-carved, gilded iconostasis, worked with a mixed technique of relief and air-piercing, is remarkable, as it is governed by the style of the Ottoman Baroque. It has built-in chapels of Zoodochos Pigi, St. Ignatius, St. Charalambous and Ag. John the Theologian.
The Leimonos Monastery is famous for its collections, the most important ecclesiastical relics and the rich library of manuscripts and attracts the pilgrim and the researcher of rare relics and documents. In its library there are 516 manuscript codices from the 9th century. of which 59 are parchment and the rest paper or cotton, while at the same time 20,000 books are kept, with the oldest one dating back to 1498. In addition, various holy vestments, excellent examples of ecclesiastical gold embroidery, holy step doors, fragments of frescoes, portable icons, holy utensils, reliquaries and many ecclesiastical utensils. The monastery also houses a folklore and geological museum, a lesbian house, a hostel and a nursing home.
The wealth of relics and the general contribution to the religious, educational and spiritual history of the island make the monastery a pole of attraction for thousands of pilgrims. The rich cultural archive is an undeniable witness of the long tradition of the place and provides information about the history of the island. The monastery celebrates on October 14, commemoration day of the renovator and founder of the new monastery, St. Ignatius.
