Program

Day 1: Easter Monday: Larnaca-Athens-Hosios Ephraim-Mytilene-church service at Agios Raphael
Gathering at Larnaca airport and departure for Athens. Arrival, pick-up and departure for a visit-pilgrimage to the monastery of Hosios Ephraim in Nea Makri. Return to the airport and flight to Mytilene. Arrival, pick-up and transfer to the hotel. Check-in to the rooms and departure for the Holy Monastery of the New Martyrs Raphael, Nicholas and Irene, which is built on the olive-tree-covered hill of Karyes, to observe the Great Vespers of the feast of Agios Raphael. Return to our hotel and overnight stay.

Day 2: Easter Tuesday: Saint Raphael - Panagia Agiasou - Mytilene
After breakfast, departure for church service at the nunnery of Saint Raphael, Nicholas and Irene, which is one of the most well-known pilgrimages throughout the Christian world, due to the miraculous action of the saints. The current monastery was built in the 1960s on the foundations of an older monastery, which operated in two different periods of the Byzantine era and was destroyed by Ottoman soldiers in 1463. After the Litany we will depart for the mountainous town of Agiasos which hosts another important pilgrimage, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, better known as “Panagia of Agiasos”, one of the most visited churches, due to the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary Holding the Child. This is a church with Byzantine foundations and a history that according to tradition begins from the period of Iconoclasm. On the way back to our hotel, we will stop in the old town of Mytilene where we will have a tour and visits to the Church of Agios Therapontos and the Metropolitan Church of Agios Athanasios. Free time and late afternoon transfer to our hotel.

Day 3: Taxiarchis Monastery - Molyvos - Petra - Limonos Monastery
Breakfast and we depart for the village of Mantamados where we will visit the Taxiarchis Monastery, where the miraculous icon of the Archangel Michael is located. It is a great pilgrimage and owes its glory to the miraculous relief icon of the Archangel Michael, legend has it made of soil and blood, one of the few relief icons in the entire Orthodox world. We will continue to the north of the island where the picturesque town of Molyvos is located with the imposing Genoese castle dominating the city. Free time to walk along the stone streets to the harbor and enjoy your coffee in one of the picturesque taverns. A short distance from Molyvos is Petra, which took its name from the imposing rock in its center (30 meters high), at the top of the rock is the church of Panagia Glykofilousa. Optional lunch and then a visit to the male Monastery of Leimonos, which is the diamond of the island. Late afternoon return to the hotel. Overnight.

Day 4: Mytilene (optional excursion to Ayvalik)
Breakfast and the day is free. We suggest a full-day excursion - cruise to the beautiful and picturesque Ayvalik. Departure early in the morning and after the necessary customs check we will board the boat that will take us after about an hour to the port of Ayvalik. Upon arrival you can explore the historic alleys of the city which still retain a strong Greek element today. In the large bazaar with its cheap prices you will find whatever you want. Departure at approximately 18:00 for return to Mytilene.

Day 5: Mytilene - Theophilos Museum - Plomari - Magdalene Catacombs - Larnaca
After breakfast, we arrange our luggage on the coach and depart for a suburb of Mytilene, Varia, where the folk painter Theophilos (1870-1934) was born and raised. The museum was created in 1964 and has 86 of his paintings, from the last years of his life. We continue to the southernmost point of the island, where we will visit the second largest city of Lesvos, the famous Plomari. Free time to get to know the city and have lunch in one of the many tavernas. On the way to Mytilene airport, we will stop at the catacombs of Agia Magdalene in Skopelos. Arrival at Mytilene airport early in the afternoon and departure for Larnaca, with a stopover to change planes in Athens.