Kythnos Monastery of Panagia Nikous

Location: Chora

The small monastery of Panagia Nikous is situated close to Chora. Like several Orthodox churches in Kythnos, it is constructed on the ruins of an ancient temple, and visitors can still see some scattered marble capitals around the monastery.

Panagia Nikous was built between the 16th and the 17th century, while its wooden altarpiece dates to 1869. An interesting fact about the monastery is that its interior walls do not present any frescoes.

In 1791, while Greece was under Ottoman rule, the monastery founded and hosted a school for Greeks under the teaching of Parthenios Koulouris, a monk from Sifnos. Its successor was one of his students, Makarios Philippaios, a Kythnian monk.

The monastery was named after the Virgin Nikopoios, the icon that Byzantine emperors carried during the battles to ensure winning. In fact, the translation of Nikopoios is “the one making the winner”. According to folk tradition, the icon was transferred to Kythnos during the fall of Constantinople, but Venetians then took it to Italy. Indeed, the Virgin Nikopoios is now hosted in Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice.