Panagia Spiliani Monastery

The Monastery of Panagia Spiliani is inside an 8.5m deep cave within the mountains and is dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin Mary and preserves a marble icon now broken into five pieces. Embedded in a rock, the icon is locally revered and considered miraculous. It also offers spectacular views of Pythagoreio and the Aegean Sea. A 95-steps staircase will lead you down to the church's altar. Inside the cave church, there is a natural spring that is considered holy water.

The icon and the monastery have harboured many folklores and legends. According to one, the marble emblem broke when a foreigner tried to steal it away on his ship, but the icon fell into the sea and floated back to land. Locals collected the broken parts on the beach and put them back in the cave. This legend has earned the icon the name ‘Mary Kaliarmenissa’. Historically, Panagia Spiliani Monastery is believed to be where Pythagoras established his philosophical school. It is also where the great Oracle of Sibul prophesied Pythagoras’ visit to South Italy and his intellectual actualization.