# Mega Spilaio

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mega_Spilaio
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mega_Spilaio.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Spilaio
> Source revision: 1253812082
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Mega Spilaio** (Greek: Μέγα Σπήλαιο), formally the **Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos** (Ιερά Μονή Κοιμήσεως της Θεοτόκου),[2] is a [Greek Orthodox](/source/Greek_Orthodox) monastery in the municipality of [Kalavryta](/source/Kalavryta), in the [Peloponnese](/source/Peloponnese) peninsula in southern [Greece](/source/Greece).

## History

The monastery is located in a large cave in a sheer cliff, where the western slopes of [Mount Chelmos](/source/Mount_Chelmos) drop down to the gorge of the [Vouraikos](/source/Vouraikos) river, some 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) northwest of the town of [Kalavryta](/source/Kalavryta).[2] The cave was known in antiquity, and the geographer [Pausanias](/source/Pausanias_(geographer)) reports that the daughters of [Proetus](/source/Proetus_(king_of_Argos_and_Tiryns)) found refuge there during their madness.[3] In the first Christian centuries, Christian hermits occupied the cave.[3]

According to tradition, the monastery is one of the oldest in Greece, reputedly founded in 362 by the [Thessalonian](/source/Thessaloniki) brothers Symeon and Theodore, who with the help of Euphrosyne (a local shepherdess, honoured as saint for her part in these events) discovered in the cave the icon of the [Theotokos](/source/Theotokos) painted by [Luke the Evangelist](/source/Luke_the_Evangelist).[2][3][4]

Its medieval history under [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine_Empire) and [Latin](/source/Principality_of_Achaea) rule is obscure.[5] The monastery gained prominence only from about 1354, when it served as the residence of the Orthodox [Metropolitan of Patras](/source/Metropolitan_of_Patras), since the city was [still occupied](/source/Barony_of_Patras) by the Latins and the seat of a [Latin archbishopric](/source/Latin_Archbishopric_of_Patras).[6] The complex suffered large-scale destructions in 849, 1400, and 1640, when it was comprehensively rebuilt.[2]

Several of the monks became members of the *[Filiki Etaireia](/source/Filiki_Etaireia)* and took part in the [Greek War of Independence](/source/Greek_War_of_Independence).[2] In 1934, the *[katholikon](/source/Katholikon)* was destroyed in a fire, and replaced by a new church in 1937.[2] On 8 December 1943, the German [117th Jäger Division](/source/117th_J%C3%A4ger_Division_(Wehrmacht)) destroyed the monastery and executed 22 monks and visitors as part of [reprisals](/source/Reprisals) that culminated a few days later with the [Massacre of Kalavryta](/source/Massacre_of_Kalavryta).[7]

The monastery was rebuilt from the ground after the war, and now comprises an eight-storey complex set in the 120 metres (390 ft) high cliff face.[2] A male monastery, it celebrates on [15 August](/source/August_15_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics)) (the day of the [Dormition](/source/Dormition)), [14 September](/source/September_14_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics)), and [18 October](/source/October_18_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics)) ([Luke the Evangelist](/source/Luke_the_Evangelist) and the *[ktetors](/source/Ktetor)*).[2]

## References

1. ["Συνέδριο και αναπαράσταση της μάχης του Μεγάλου Σπηλαίου"](https://www.thebest.gr/article/625539-sunedrio-kai-anaparastasi-tis-machis-tou-megalou-spilaiou). *thebest.gr*. Retrieved 17 August 2021.

1. ["Ιερά Μονή Μεγάλου Σπηλαίου"](http://www.religiousgreece.gr/peloponnese/-/asset_publisher/J4zsS00HlAz5/content/iera-mone-megalou-spelaiou) (in Greek). [Archbishopric of Athens](/source/Archbishopric_of_Athens). Retrieved 17 November 2018.

1. ["Μονή Μεγάλου Σπηλαίου: Πληροφορίες"](http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/gh251.jsp?obj_id=7361) (in Greek). [Greek Ministry of Culture](/source/Greek_Ministry_of_Culture). Retrieved 17 November 2018.

1. ["ΙΕΡΑ ΜΟΝΗ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΣΠΗΛΑΙΟΥ"](http://www.nea.gr/tour/Pages/Istoria%20-%20mnhmeia%20-politismos/monasthria.htm) (in Greek). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20060509141048/http://www.nea.gr/tour/Pages/Istoria%20-%20mnhmeia%20-politismos/monasthria.htm) 9 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 December 2018.

1. Bon 1969, p. 470.

1. Bon 1969, pp. 221, 224.

1. Meyer, Frank Hermann (2002). *Von Wien nach Kalavryta. Die blutige Spur der 117. Jäger-Division durch Serbien und Griechenland* (in German). Mannheim/Möhnesee: Peleus. ISBN 3-933925-22-3.

## Sources

- Bon, Antoine (1969). [*La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe*](http://cefael.efa.gr/detail.php?site_id=1&actionID=page&serie_id=BefarA&volume_number=213&issue_number=1) (in French). Paris: De Boccard.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mega Spilaio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Spilaio) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Spilaio?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.