At the top of Prophet Ilias hill is the famous monastery of the area. Lord Byron was hosted here in 1809, traveling from Ioannina to Tepeleni. It is naturally located at the highest point of Zitsa among a dense pine forest. Its enclosure, the catholicon, the recently restored cells and the cistern are well preserved. The monastery was built in 1655 by the hieromonk Athanasios and was chronicled at the same time by the Greek painters Georgios, Ioannis and Dimitrios. In 1799, the then abbot Grigorios Exarchou, built the narthex and commissioned its iconography to the Capesov painters Ioannis and Anastasios Anagnosti. Of great importance are the despotic images as well as that of Prophet Elias. Lord Byron, the French Consul at Ioannina Pouqueville, the English politician and writer Benjamin Disraeli and other personalities visited the monastery. On the evening of July 19, the eve of her feast day, in the courtyard of the monastery, a dinner is served to the pilgrims with meats offered by the local breeders.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou