Megali Panagia Monastery

Built in 1586 by the monks Neilos and Dionysios, who came from Mount Latros in Asia Minor, near ancient Miletus; islanders also call it the 'Monastery of the Five Houses'. The church - a cross-in-square Athonite plan with narthex, outer narthex and side chapel - carries an inscription of 1593 and is reckoned the grandest on Samos. Its 16th-century wall paintings cover the nave, the narthex and the chapel of the Holy Apostles, added in 1587. Look also for the marble bell tower of 1777, the gilded carved episcopal throne and the 18th-century iconostasis. Five monks live here, and the feast day is 23 August.