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Visiting Ormylia

Page history last edited by Stelios Sikiotis 9 months, 2 weeks ago


Visiting the Holy Monastery of the Annunciation in Ormylia

 

Many pilgrims to Thessaloniki are interested in making a trip out to the women's monastery of the Annunciation in the village of Ormylia, in Halkidiki. One of the most famous and largest monasteries in Greece today, it has well over 100 nuns from all over the world. It is a dependency of Simonopetra on the Holy Mountain, and its beautiful chanting style is directly influenced by its men's monastery counterpart.

 

Visiting hours

 

Monday: Closed

Tuesday: 11 AM–3 PM

Wednesday: Closed

Thursday: 11 AM–3 PM

Friday: Closed

Saturday: 11 AM–3 PM

Sunday: 11 AM–3 PM

 

 

Staying at the monastery

 

Those who desire to spend the night need to call and arrange the visit. Prepare to be put on a waiting list of at least six months -- yes, you read that correctly. So plan ahead if you desire the great blessing of spending a night at this monastery. Note that it is quite rare for men to be allowed to spend the night there.

 

Vigils

 

The monastery holds a certain number of vigils each year on major feasts. These are open to the public. They usually begin around 8:00 PM and last until 1:00 or 2:00 AM. The gates are open to pilgrims only two times, once at the beginning of the service and once at the midway point (around 10:30 or 11:00). You may enter or leave only at these times. Call the monastery for more details.

 

Medical Center

 

The monastery is well known, especially abroad, for its medical center, and for this reason many pilgrims are interested in visiting this center. The Center of Panagia Philanthropini (Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Who Loves Humankind) is the medical center of the Monastery of Ormylia. Since 1991 the Center has offered free screening services for breast and cervical cancer to underprivileged women in northern Greece ( more than 27.000 women have been screened, 150.000 screening tests have taken place). The Center reaches out to vulnerable women from remote rural areas with focus on economically depressed communities regardless of race and nationality, serving indigenous Greek Orthodox Women, as well as Muslims and immigrants to Greece from economically and socially disturbed regions. 

 

www.philanthropini.org

 

Getting there

 

Unfortunately, it is not easy to get to the monastery with public transportation. First, you will have to go to the KTEL Halkidiki bus station. There is one bus from the center that goes here, but I do not know the number, and it is almost certainly a very long ride. The best bet, then, is to take a taxi, which will probably cost something like 8 euro.

From the bus station, you will ask for a ticket to the village of Ormylia. The bus ride should take about 1.5-2 hours. Once you arrive in Ormylia, you'll take a taxi to the monastery (probably around 5 euro).

If you have your own car, you will take the main road out of Thessaloniki, past the airport, and on to Halkidiki, stopping to ask for the way to the village of Ormylia. By car, the trip should take about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

It is possible to arrange for an American to provide transportation for you and thus act as a driver/tour guide/translator for popular trips to such places as Ormylia. In this case, you should remember that gasoline alone costs approximately 15 cents per kilometer. Thus, a trip to Ormylia, which is about 100 kilometers each way, would cost 30 euro just in gasoline. A typical visit there, including the 1.5 hour drive each way, could take about 5 hours. Thus, all together, you may want to consider reimbursing your driver/tour guide something like 90 euro for the whole trip, including the use/rental of a small car, which can take up to 3 other people (besides the driver/tour guide). It is also possible to get a minivan that can take up to 6 extra people, but this involves an extra cost.

 

Contact

 

The monastery's phone number is (30) 237-104-1278. They answer on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 1-3 pm, and even then you must be persistent. They do speak English.

 

www.ormyliamonastery.com

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