Located majestically atop a rocky promontory overlooking the turquoise waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Santa Maria dell’Isola is one of the most amazing sights that can be seen in Southern Italy. The ancient monastery greets visitors in Tropea, Calabria, offering fantastic scenic views apart from housing a millennium of history and spiritual values. For voyagers…
In the 14th century, a group of Augustinian hermits built a monastery on a secluded island in the middle of a lake in Croatia. In the mid-1400s, a group of Franciscan monks expanded the monastery in the wake of fleeing a Turkish invasion in Bosnia. Visovac Monastery—which is located in Krka National Park—is a peaceful…
In 1938, a newspaper ran a story about an 82-year-old monk named Mihailo Tolotos who supposedly died without ever seeing a woman other than his own mother. Mihailo Tolotos spent his days in a Greek Eastern Orthodox monastic community known as Mount Athos. Since the 9th century, no human woman and most female animals have…
Many centuries ago, two Greek Orthodox priests from the city of Athens were traveling through a remote mountain range in Turkey. The priests stumbled upon an icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave. The two Greek priests were so inspired by what they saw that they decided to construct a church in honor of…
The unique structure of the flooded bell tower serves, as a marker for ships and sailors travelling near the small town of Kalyazin. Sometimes, the tower also becomes a venue, for certain Orthodox Christian rituals. The bell tower was part of a much larger structure of the St. Nicholas Cathedral. It was flooded and submerged…
Although many tourists visit Greece for the sea, somewhere above 400 meters higher lies an unforgettable sightseeing objective. Holy Trinity Monastery has a history of over 6 centuries and offers a breathtaking view. This UNSECO World Heritage Site is only one of the 24 Meteora monasteries located in the central part of Greece. Meteora, means…
Vardzia is a unique architectural wonder located in the south of Georgia, near the town of Aspindza. Vardzia is a cave palace and monastery built by Georgians in the Caucasus in the late 1100s to serve as a sanctuary to resist foreign invasions. The underground fortress spanned 13 levels and contained 6000 apartments, a throne…
The Katskhi Pillar is a towering structure that stands 40 meters tall in the hills of Central Georgia. It resembles a giant’s club and has had a mythical presence since human settlement in the area. Before the arrival of Christianity, the pillar was a pagan holy site and was likely used for fertility rituals. In…
