The women's Monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin Ypseni is located in the village of Lardos, near the ancient Lindos. It was called until the end of the 19th century. Monastery of the Heights, from the hill on which it is located. It is a women's monastery that was built on the ruins of an early Christian and later Byzantine monastery. Its founder is considered to be Osios Meletios who found the icon of the Virgin Mary and built the monastery in its place. At the entrance of the church of the Dormition of the Virgin there is an inscription that places the construction of the catholicon in 1855. In a book published in Venice in 1852 there are reports about the area. In 1922, archim. Amfilochios Tsoukos establishes a women's brotherhood in the monastery. Today 15 nuns live in the Monastery. The monastic complex covers a large area and includes the temple, the three-story bell tower as well as a number of building facilities such as two-story buildings (cells, hostels) and auxiliary spaces. The church is of the Dodecanese type, with cross vaults, hollow tiles and a propylon at the entrance. Inside it has a wooden iconostasis and a floor with black and white pebbles. In the Monastery, part of the holy relics of Saint Meletius is kept, whose memory is commemorated on February 12. The monastery celebrates on August 23.
Editor: Niki Kalopaidis
