Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Psinthos

The monastery of the Holy Trinity in Psinthos was built during the Hospitaller period (at the beginning of the 15th century) on the site of what was probably the Holy Vema of an early Christian Basilica (of the 5th – 6th century). It consists of a small-sized single-nave barrel-vaulted church with high-quality wall decoration. According to the founding inscription seen on the western wall of the right side of the entrance, the pictorial program of the church was completed in 1407/8 AD through expenses of a nun named Katafygi (Divine Shelter). On the lower level, near the monastery site, there is a natural spring that gushes water, the “Agiasma”, according to the locals. Also characteristic is the folk name that has been given to the area, “Iamatiko or Matiko”, according to the local dialect of the area, signifying the miraculous holy water of the spring. According to popular tradition, it is said that a shepherd who had a deaf-mute daughter who helped him was tending his sheep in the place where the church is built today. One day, as his daughter was passing through this area with their flock, water started gushing from where a cow had stepped on. Then, the girl drank from this water and miraculously regained her hearing and her speech. After this miraculous event, according to oral tradition, the father and daughter built a monastery on the site as a sign of gratitude to God for the daughter’s healing. The monastery is still an important place of pilgrimage.