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Monastery of Saint Mary of Aithaliotisa

The Monastery of Aithaliotisa is located near Piluri village and about 450 meters above sea level and has a wonderful panorama of the Ionian Sea and the city of Himara.

THE MONASTERY

The monastery of Aithaliotisa (or simply Athali) with St. Mary’s church inside is located about 10 km from the centre of Himara on top of the homonymous hill of Athali. Surrounded by large oak trees the monastery cannot be seen from the coast on nearby areas except from the road leading to Piluri.

The monastery has its celebration every year on Friday after Easter and every 15 of August, where more than 500 people gather to celebrate with a lot of food and traditional dancing.

During its active years, the monastery, was famous for its wine and beautiful vineyards that occupied the vast majority of land and the virgin olive oil. We can observe this from the cultivated land around the monastery. Unfortunately, the olive trees are the only one that remain till this very day. The monks were great shepherds and were very generous with the villagers as they always shared their harvest.

  • The monastery was built around 1775. It has a typical byzantine basilica and beside the church there are two store dwelling ruins that where habitable then and for storage usage. Athali church size 10 x 10.5 meters, covered with flat ceiling, while the side naves are rectangular, separated from each other by columns with arches that connect adjacent walls, which are covered with barrel vaulted.

  • The Monastery of Aithaliotisa is located near Piluri village and about 450 meters above sea level and has a wonderful panorama of the Ionian Sea and the city of Himara. It takes about 2 hours to walk there or 30 minutes of driving, I personally recommend hiking here because you’ll walk between century old olive and oak trees and some water springs.

  • There is no admission fee to enter the Monastery although its is advised to visit it, light a candle and leave a small amount of money for its maintenance.

View of the monastery from the road to Piluri village.
The entrance of the Monastery.
The inside of the Monastery with its holy depictions.
The second part of the inside of the monastery, where the holy sanctuary is.
A carving ath the door of the church, a donation from o Himariot.
The entrance to the curch.
The beautiful wall decorated with many pictures and paintings.
The water well, used by the priests of past period, now by the visitors.

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HOW TO VISIT

You can visit this monastery by joining our guided tour, for more details check the link above. If you decide to visit it by yourself, well done, just click on the following link to view a detailed map. Map to Monastery of Aithaliotisa

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About Visit Himara

VISIT HIMARA aims to provide all the essential information that a visitor might need on their next adventure to the Region of Himara. The data has been collected from Google Maps, Wikipedia, Local Guides and Personal Experience.

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