Timios Prodromos Monastery (Mesa Potamos)

At Mesa Potamos, between Saittas and Platres, the Holy Monastery of Timios Prodromos is located. It is an all-male monastic community, dating from the 11th or 12th century, possibly extending to the 14th century.

Throughout the Ottoman Empire, the monastery faced a decline and in 1753, when the Russian monk, Barsky, paid it a visit, only 1 abbot and 2 monks existed. The temple was destroyed in 1878 due to a fire, operated in 1912, but was deserted once again in 1916. At the time, the Bishop Meletios Metaksakis and Nikodemos Milonas decided that the monastery should be utilized as a hotel for vacationers who would choose the idyllic location for leisure.

Relevant

PHOTOS: Το μοναστήρι της Λεμεσού, που έγινε ξενοδοχείο για να σωθεί από την ερήμωση!

Thus, the monastery, surrounded by dense, woody vegetation, operated as a hotel for a number of decades, until 1950. It remained abandoned up until it was restored and inhabited in 2003 by the monks of Machairas.

At the monastery, the 16th century temple is still preserved. In 2013 a new temple was built as well as a wing of auxiliary buildings.

Photo: Panayiotis Pastellis

Photo: Panayiota Constantinou