The monastery of Prophet Ilias is located above the village of Pyrgos, on the mountain of the same name and dates from the beginning of the 18th century. It was founded in 1711 by two Thira monks, Gabriel and Joakim Belonia, who were from Pyrgos, who offered all their property for the establishment of the monastery.
With a patriarchal seal, the monastery was named patriarchal and crucifixion, while due to the special esteem and value it enjoyed, in the middle of the 18th century the patriarchate elevated it to an Exarchate.
Due to the large real estate it had since its foundation, the monastery developed a remarkable social activity which, however, has now been necessarily limited due to the expropriation of a large part of its estates. The monastery no longer has monks and is maintained almost exclusively by the contributions of the faithful. The lack of money and monks unfortunately means that the museum of the monastery, which has several ecclesiastical treasures, is almost always closed.
The church of the monastery, which is dedicated to the Prophet Elias, has a very nice wood-carved iconostasis by a local craftsman and a also carved patriarchal throne, while the icon of the Prophet Elias is a work of the 15th century and probably comes from a painter of the Cretan School.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou