Most popular Churches & Monasteries in Halkidiki
The Church of Agios Demetrius - Afytos Halkidiki
Set in the main square of Afitos, the church of Agios Demetrios was built in 1858 on the ruins of an early Christian church. The Basilica of Agios Demetrios was built with locally quarried stone and is the largest Eastern Orthodox Christian church with a dome in Halkidiki. The church is open all day and the locals regularly attend services. The church was built over the ruins of an older church, also dedicated to the same saint and was destroyed in 1821 during the Holocaust of Kassandra along with the entire village. It is a three-aisled basilica with a dome, with built-in bell tower, narthex and courtyard. It was built by artisans from Northern Epirus along with the villagers’ help.
In the central aisle of the church there is the icon of Panagia Afitiotissa (Panagia Odigitria), a work of the 14th century from the workshop of the Chora Monastery in Constantinople. This image was registered by the 10th Ephorate in 1974. After the examination, the picture was found to be completely covered with a later painting layer and had little damage. The cleaning and aesthetic restoration was completed at the Ephorate Rehabilitation Laboratory in 2001. Previously, the technical characteristics of the image were diagnosed at the Diagnostic Center of the Evangelismos Monastery in Ormylia.
The restoration confirmed the wonderful technique of the image and is an example of the hagiographies from the Palaiologos. The Virgin is depicted from the middle and above, with the well-known type of Odigitria, holding the little Christ in her left hand, while her right hand is under the chest as a sign of “Deesis”. Christ blesses with his right hand and holds a handwritten roll on the left. Considering that the church of the village of Agios Dimitrios of Afyitos was burned down during the great destruction of Halkidiki in 1821 and re-established in 1859, it could be assumed that the icon was offered to the newly built temple by a monastery that had a stake in the area, the Megisti Lavra or Agios Panteleimonas.
The Church Agios Nikolaos - Polygyros Halkidiki
Agios Nikolaos (Saint Nicholas) church in Polygyros is a traditional long basilica, with a nave and two aisles and a seven-arched porch. The separate, square-sectioned bell tower, at the northwest corner of the church, is topped by octagonal clock housing with four clock faces and a blue domed roof which are visible from several vantage points around the town. According to a marble plaque on the bell tower, the clock was donated by Dimitri and Olympia Mareti in 1953.
Directly below the bell tower is the grave of Metropolitan Kassandreias Eirinaios. A metropolitan in the Greek Orthodox Church is the equivalent of a bishop, and Polygyros is the seat of the Metropolis of Kassandreia. Eirinaios was born Emmanuel Pantoleontos in the Princes Islands near Constantinople (Istanbul) and died in Polygyros. He is remembered here as a fearless supporter of Greek independence and resistance during the conflicts with Turkey and Bulgaria and the Nazi occupation.
The Church of Agios Nikitas - Nikiti Halkidiki
The establishment of Agios Nikitas Church took place at the times when both Nikiti and Greece were flourishing. The settlement was established in the XIV century. The religious site was built only a few centuries later, in the XIX century. The decision about the construction of the church caused a variety of opinions among the residents of Nikiti. It was due to the place of the building construction. Each of the inhabitants wanted to live closer to the religious center of the settlement.
As a result, they chose a special place. It was a fortress, used by the Turkish soldiers for quartering in the village in the past. It is worth to mention that before, there were no other religious sites here. Later, the residents of Nikiti destroyed the fortress. In 1867, they established the Church of Agios Nikitas in its place. The site got its name thanks to the inhabitants of Nikiti. They chose the name by giving their preference to the name of the patron saint of the village.
After the establishment, the Church of Agios Nikitas has become the center of the public life of the village. The size and the magnificence of the church reflected the village’s prosperity. People in Nikiti usually started all the celebrations from a church service. There is still a strong connection between public and religious life in Greece.
The brightest and most significant celebration in Nikiti is the day of Saint Nikitas. It takes place on September 15. Thousands of pilgrims from all over Halkidiki annually joined the festive event. It usually began with a visit to a church. After that, the residents of Nikiti continued the festive event by banqueting at the square. The Nikiti residents also arranged a huge market, offering a rich choice of sweets, souvenirs, and gifts. At present, the significance of a celebration significantly decreased, but people try to bring the old traditions back.
The Church Agios Athanasios - Sikia Halkidiki
A monument to history through the years with the wooden temple. The imposing stone church of St. Athanasius, built in 1814, was destroyed in 1854 by the Macedonian chieftain Tsami Karatasos, who ruled out the Turks in the church, who had so far defied Sikia and burned them ) and was rebuilt in 1856. Interesting is the wooden ceiling and its wood-carved pilgrimages, works of 1703, which appear to come from Ag. Term. Characteristic is also its masonry and, above all, its western face. Next to the church there is the wonderful old school of the village with the stone columns, built in 1870.
The Chapel of Panagia Phaneromeni - Nea Skioni Halkidiki
A beautiful chapel with bright white walls, this church is located at the beach shore on the path to Nea Skioni. You can find amazing frescoes here dating back to the 16th century. According to the local tradition the church was built at the beach shore by the villagers because they have found a big marble with the depiction of the Virgin Mary floating on the surface of the sea. Although the initial plan was to build the church on the hill, every night the church would be destroyed and the marble icon was found near the sea.
The Church of St. Athanasius - Fourka Halkidiki
The church of St. Athanasius seems to have been built around 1600. It should be considered as very likely that it was burned in 1821 and then (apparently in the 1830s) was repaired. Initially, the main church had to be depicted, but the destruction of 1821 and the indifference to its frescoes brought many damage to the painting ensemble. Nowadays, a few fragments of frescoes on the north wall and the entire representation of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary are saved in the west. Characteristic of this representation is the illustration of the Apostles’ movement on clouds to arrive in time and attend the burial of the Virgin Mary.
Based on the stylistic details of the surviving frescoes, we can say that it is a work of the early 17th century and comes from a painter influenced by the tendencies of Cretan painting, as they were then manifested on Mount Athos.
Undoubtedly the frescoes of St. Athanasius are not unique works of art, they are the usual frescoes of the time, from which many examples exist in the Greek space. However, their presence in Halkidiki, along with the other few, we have mentioned, are the only remnants of an interesting phase of Halkidiki history. Moreover, they point out the tragic reason of the absence of monuments in Halkidiki: the Halkidikians of 1821 did not die alone, they accompanied them to their death and the monuments of their place.
The temple of Saint Georgios - Ormylia Halkidiki
The temple of the patron saint of Agios Georgios is located in the center of Ormylia and is a classic three-aisled basilica of the Ottoman domination, with an iconostasis of popular Macedonian style, which has not yet been restored. It is built in the 19th century, more precisely in the year 1818. It was built on the site of a former Byzantine church dedicated to Saint Haralambos and was destroyed by a fire. But the newly-built temple was also destroyed, by fire, three years later, during the Halkidiki Revolution in the Ottoman domination. Again, however, the piousness of the inhabitants restored him to his former form. The Holy Temple was dedicated to the Great Martyr George, because from the previous catastrophe, only the image of today’s imaginary image has survived in a miraculous way. The above picture is a work of the 14th century.
The temple of Saint Stephen - Arnaia Halkidiki
Saint Stephen's church, according to an inscription marble plate embedded on the wall of its facade, was built in 1812 and honours the memory of St. Stephen. The temple is a three-aisled basilica with dimensions 41x19,5m. It was burnt from the ground up during the 1821 Revolution, as the entire village did. The residents scattered in the nearby vicinity and lower back later which will rebuild the village and the church, wherein they positioned a timber chancel and one of the few in the region wooden-carved ornate despotic throne. The unique chancel was a donation from the Konstamonitou monastery and covered 70 smaller timber pix and 14 silver-lined, large ones.
On the night of September 5 of 2005, a great fire broke inside the temple and almost totally destroyed it. The roof collapsed, and everything inside the temple was burnt completely. The evidence of three older buildings was found during reconstruction and renovation of the building: a large three-aisled Christian basilica dated around 400, a small, one space byzantine temple of the 10th-11th century and a large rectangular post-byzantine structure without a niche of the 16th-17th century. At the same time, many findings, from the Christian era until the Ottoman rule period, saw the light of day (objects made of clay, marble, glass and metal, plasters and murals).
The Church of Archangelos Michael - Taxiarchis Halkidiki
The Temple of Pammegistos Taxiarch Michael belongs typologically to the cruciform rhythm with a dome and is built entirely of Holomont’s stone and mostly by volunteer work of the inhabitants, upon the on-call of Matthew the Hieromonk (Stergioni) and the efforts of the ecclesiastical commissioners. It is built on an older temple, royal temple, which was destroyed by the Turks in 1821 and then renovated in 1914. Erection works lasted for about seven years (1970-77) and were based on plans by a German architect. In the courtyard of the Temple, there are other building complexes.
There is a chapel in honor of Agios Theodoros, which was probably a temple of the monastery of the venerable I. Dochiarios Monastery. Next to the chapel, there is a room known as “cells”, which used to be multipurpose spaces of the temple and were built in 1960. They functioned as Candelabra, as a place of pilgrim hospitality, as an ossuary. Today these cells have been restored and used for a speech room or other events. Next to the cells there is a three-story stone building, which belongs to the I Temple and was built in 1916. This building was used as an inn a few years ago, as well as a cafe where all the social events took place. Today, this building is restored very slowly, due to a lack of financial resources, in order to be used as a Presbyterian, Archontiko and Library of the I Temple, as well as an open space for a folklore museum. There is also a recent chapel-iconostasis of Agios Dimitrios, of remarkable architecture.
Sanctuary of Zeus Ammon - Kallithea Halkidiki
The sanctuary of Zeus Ammon at Kallithea, Chalcidice is situated by the sea, in a beautiful, forested area of the western peninsula of the Chalcidice. The site was discovered in 1968, when illegal building activities destroyed part of the foundation and the crepidoma of a monumental building, which afterwards proved to be a temple. The rescue excavation that followed from 1969 to 1970 brought to light a temple which was attributed to Zeus Ammon, following the discovery of a votive inscription to the god. South of the temple, research revealed the remains of a shrine which was attributed to Dionysos on the basis of the name of the god inscribed on many shreds found there. This shrine was recorded in ancient Greek literature.
The sanctuary was excavated again from 2005 to 2008, as part of the project “Sanctuary of Zeus Ammon of Chalcidice – enhancement and presentation to the public”, financed by the European Union and the Greek State. This recent excavation was carried out in three areas: a) the shrine of Dionysus and the Nymphs, b) the temple of Zeus Ammon, and c) a Roman bath discovered north of the temple.
The Monastery of the Annunciation - Vatopedi Halkidiki
The Monastery of the Annunciation, 1.5 km northeast of Vatopedi and 4 km from Ormylia, is the largest in Greece and with ecumenical radiation, accommodating 130 people, including 110 nuns and 20 priests, probed nuns, laborers and administrative strains. It is one of the many metropolises of Mount Athos in the region of Ormylia. It had the extent of the present village of Vatopedi, which after the expropriation of 1924 was given to the refugees where the homonymous village was built. Testimonies for the existence of Vatopedi metamotechios have been from the 12th century.
The main building of 1903 was originally a small chapel devoted to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary and a few small storages. In 1974, it was purchased from the Monastery of Simonos Petras and now, as a Simonopetriko metochi, is given for the establishment of the women’s brotherhood, which is under the guidance of the abbot Simonas Petras. Today, the Monastery is Stavropigiakos and Patriarchal and it has 120 nuns with the eldest daughter of Nicodemus. Today’s monastery, after renovating the old buildings, was expanded to meet the needs of this great brotherhood, maintaining with great respect the color of the Athonite tradition. The Katholikon is a Byzantine temple temple in which the visitor can admire mosaic floors crafted by the nuns, as well as famous wall paintings by the hagiographic group of the Monastery. It celebrates on March 25, the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, and on July 22, St. Mary of Magdalene, who is considered the patron saint of the majestic Monastery Simonos Petras.
The Monastery of Agios Arsenios - Vatopedi Halkidiki
It is about 95 km from Thessaloniki. It is located in Vatopedi between the Ormylia monasteries and Ioannis Prodromos. Ecclesiastic belongs to the Holy Metropolis of Kassandria. The Monastery was founded in 1986 and its inauguration was made by the Metropolitan of Kassandria. It was set up with the instigation and wish of the Beatitude Elder Paisios.
Saint Arsenios Kappadokis was the sponsor of Elder Paisios. It has emerged as one of the holy forms of Orthodoxy of the last centuries. Osios Arsenios slept in 1924 in Corfu after the People’s Exchange.
The Catholic is a Byzantine temple temple with a dome. He celebrates on 10 November in memory of Saint Arsenios of Cappadocian and on October 1 of Agia Skepi, according to the Byzantine tradition. Today he has 18 monks, with Abbot Theodulos Bolka. Also known throughout Greece are the speeches by the monk of the monastery of Arsenios Beligoftis.