Vatopedi

LocationVatopedi

Vatopedi is a refugee settlement of the Ormylia Municipal District in the prefecture of Chalkidiki. The village was founded by refugees from Asia Minor, who settled in the settlement after 1922. Its name came from the fact that the refugees settled in the Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos. The settlement until 1971 was a separate community. At a short distance from the village, on the hill where today the Cultural Center of the women’s monastery of Ormylia are marked traces of Roman and Byzantine settlements.

From the foot of the hill lies the beach. Its location is to the east of the River Chavria, in a place with olive groves and few vines. Outside of Vatopedi lies the Cultural Center of the Annunciation Monastery, with activities in the fields of social and health promotion. A little further is the women’s patriarchal and monastery, dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, which is the largest in Greece. It has about 110 nuns and workshops of weaving and iconography. Its relics date back to the 12th century. In 1974, it was purchased from the Monastery of Simonos Petras and has been renovated today. The Catholic monastery is a Byzantine temple with mosaic flooring and frescoes. It celebrates on 25 March and also on July 22, the protector of the monastery of Simon Petras, Saint Maria Magdalini.

To the south of the village on a hill there is the male monastery of Saint Arsenios, founded in 1986. The monastery of Saint Arsenios celebrates on 10 November and 1 October.