The monastery of Taxiarchis is located a short distance from the settlement of Mandamados and is one of the most important pilgrimages in Greece. Once it functioned as an male monastery, now it is considered a place of pilgrimage where the relief miraculous icon of Taxiarchos, fermented with mud and blood, is kept.
According to tradition, the monastery already existed in the 10th century. and towards its end it was attacked by Saracen pirates, who destroyed its establishments and massacred its monks. Only one cadet was saved, Gabriel, who had hidden on the roof of the church and with the departure of the pirates he made the miraculous image of Taxiarchis with clay and the blood of the slaughtered monks.
The first historical evidence for the existence of the monastery, however, is a document from 1661 and a contemporary inscription on the church. It is also known that in the 18th century the old small catholicon was replaced by a new bigger church. The current catholicon, which dominates the middle of the square, was built from pedestals in 1879 and is a three-aisled basilica. The complex looks like a fortress, as it is surrounded by tall buildings and a spire on the northwest side.
In the interior of the catholicon, a dominant position is occupied by the one-of-a-kind relief image of the Archangel Michael, which is kept in a luxurious canopy made in 1766. Special relics are the high priest’s sack and the petrachili of Ag. national martyr of Patriarch Gregory V, in a special display case to the right of the entrance, which the patriarch himself had given to his protosygelus Porphyrios, later metropolitan of Mytilene. Noteworthy are the small metal shoes offered by the faithful, since according to tradition the Taxi Chief wears out his shoes walking around the island at night.
The monastery has guest houses for hosting guests. It is celebrated twice a year on November 8, the day of the assembly of the archangels and on the Sunday of the Myrophores, the celebration of the opening of the temple, the celebration of which attracts a large number of pilgrims, as they arrive by the thousands on foot from all over the island. The celebrations are accompanied by a great religious and commercial feast and the unique ritual offering of a bull.
