On October 2nd 2019 we walked from Dionysiou to Grigoriou, a relatively short hike of 3 km’s, that took us 1 hour and 20 minutes walking time, but the steep climbs and the vicious descents made it a tough trip.

These stairs lead to the path that goes to Dionysiou. When you turn left you see the entrance to Grigoriou.

The access road to Grigoriou, covered with vines. The first thing you will have do after arriving in a monastery is to register your name and diamoniterion number in the book that lies in guest house – archondariki.

These round stairs in the second courtyard (see map below – B1), lead to the guest house.

In the reception room you can find the book to register your stay in the monastery (the ‘Biblion Episkepton’), here on the table on the left.

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The photo above is from the second page of this book, that dates from May 2016, with an introduction text in Greek, in short: “Book of guests or visitors: that the Lord our God will remember the names of the devout pilgrims and visitors written in this book in His Kingdom. Date May 2 New Calendar, April 19 Old Calendar” (thanks Vasílis).

After being assigned our room we went for a walk through the buildings.

The West coast, looking to the South.

This photo is taken in the same direction, but now from the balcony. Where the brooms are you can see an open door, and this is what I saw when I went in:

The door led to the trapeza of the monastery. As you can see from the damage to the murals, the door is much used!

A general view of the trapeza. When I turned my camera to the left I could photograph this part of trapeza:

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When I turned the camera to the right I saw the table of the Abbot,

a full set table with the bell that, if the abbot rings it, puts an end to every meal.

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At these tables the monks and the guests eat their food.

After my visit to the trapeza I returned to the balcony and looked down at the rocks and the beautiful blue waters of the clear sea:

From here I could take a shot of the North wings of the monastery. Next time more pictures from the courtyards of Grigoriou (photo taken at M1 see plan above).

Wim Voogd, 21 July 2020