Not far from the town of Kalavrita, on the slope of Mount Helmos, is one of the oldest Orthodox monasteries in Greece, Mega Spileo, which means "Great Cave" in Greek.
According to tradition, the two brothers, Simeon and Theodore, had the same dream, in which they saw the Blessed Virgin Mary with instructions to go to the city of Kalavrita to find Her icon. There, the brothers met a shepherdess, Euphrosyne, who told them that she had found a spring and had a dream in which Our Lady told her to wait for the two brothers to find Her icon together with them. After some time, a monastery was founded at the site of the discovery of the miraculous icon, which is still active today and in which the icon of the Great Cave Mother of God is kept. Since its founding, the monastery of Mega Spileo has suffered five terrible fires, but after each of them the icon has remained unharmed. It is believed that this image, supposedly painted by the Apostle Luke, has been a source of signs, miracles and healings for many centuries.
It should be noted that the Monastery of Mega Spileo is not only an important bastion of spirituality, but also the center of the political life of the peninsula. When the uprising began in 1821, many monks of the monastery took part in it and many reliquaries with relics of saints were brought to the monastery to support the army.
Entrance to the territory of the monastery is free. Near the monastery there is a small shop where you can buy local products: olives, sweets, wine, honey.
Take the train from Athens, Corinth or Patras to Diakopton station and then take the mini tourist train to Kalavrita station and take a cab to the monastery.
