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The Holy Monastery of Faneromeni (celebrates on August 23) was erected in the 17th century (1670) by Saint Lavrentios (real name Lambros Kanellos) who found the icon of the "New Apparition of Panagia". It is located northwest of the island. The foundation of the monastery The founder of the Monastery is Lambros Kannelos, a devout Christian and resident of Megara. According to ecclesiastical tradition, he saw in his sleep three times the Virgin Mary who ordered him to go to Salamina, to the ruins of the temple, throwing his coat into the sea to cross across. He did so. On May 17, 1640, he went to the spot and with the help of the residents dug and found the icon of Panagia Faneromeni. In 1682 he restored the church and founded a monastery on the spot. He himself became a monk together with his wife, was renamed Lavrentios and retired to the hermitage of the prophet Elias, southeast of the monastery, a small church that was preserved intact until 1944 when it was destroyed by the Germans. Lavrentios died on March 6, 1707 and was buried in the monastery. The Church of Greece declared him Blessed, celebrating his memory on March 7. A large number of miracles are attributed to Saint Lawrence by the faithful. The catholicon of the Faneromeni Monastery was then decorated with hagiographies of post-Byzantine art that survive and date from the year 1735 by the hagiographer from Argos, Georgios Markou and his students. The iconography of the Holy Monastery of Faneromeni includes approximately 3,530 figures and representations. A significant number of old documents and historical relics are preserved in the monastery. The contribution to the period of the Greek revolution During the Turkish occupation and immediately after the outbreak of the Revolution, the contribution of the monastery, which was then in full bloom, was extremely important and continuous in covering the material and financial needs of the Struggle. During the Revolution of 1821, the Faneromeni Monastery was a refuge for the civilian population of Athens, Megara and the surrounding areas. The monks took care of the feeding and care of both the civilians and the fighters. Due to its strong fortification, it was considered by the then Metropolitan of Athens, Dionysios, a safe place for the safekeeping of sacred utensils and relics of the churches and monasteries as well as for the transfer of the library of Athens. During this period, the abbot was Grigorios Kanellos, great-grandson of the founder of the Monastery, Osios Lavrentiou, who, in addition to his pastoral activity, is said to have offered important services during the Revolution. According to the code of the Friends, which was drawn up by Panagiotis Sekeris after the death of Skoufas, its abbot, Grigorios, was a prominent member of the Friendly Society, active in the initiation of new members and also participating in the battle of Acrocorinth. Fighters who took part in the operations of Attica, Athens and Faliro such as Makrygiannis, Tzavelas, Kriezotis, D. Ypsilantis, Mavrovouniotis, Karaiskakis and others were hosted and held meetings in the monastery. With the consent of Grigoriou, Karaiskakis installed the "general headquarters or rather general training school" in the abbot of the Monastery. Dimitrios Ypsilantis also recognizes the contribution of the monastery during the years of Gregory's abbotship, as can be seen in three small signed notes of his. The monastery provided bread, wheat, oil, wine, horses, timber, money for munitions and upkeep of soldiers and anything that was deemed necessary. Also, the construction of a primary school in Megara is attributed to the monastery's financial sponsorship. In the premises of the monastery under the abbot Grigorios, who was also an empirical doctor himself,[8] a healing clinic-hospital operated from 1822 until at least the beginning of 1826 where two great doctors of Athens, Anargyros Petrakis and Athanasios Zografos, offered their services.[ 8] The establishment of the rudimentary hospital in the monastery is probably also related to the attributed healing properties of the holy cara of St. Lawrence, widespread at that time in Salamina, Megara and the wider region of Attica. The association of the monastery with the hospital, even though the hospital of Agona was now operating in Ampelaki of Salamina, is emphasized by the popular Muse, through the mouth of Georgios Karaiskakis after his injury in Faliro, in the folk song "O thanatos tou Karaiskou". Even if I am received, comrades, do not be sad, I am going quickly to Koulouri, in the middle of Faneromeni, the royal doctors say to heal my wound, and to hang the chariots on the Agios Vima, and when the minister reads them, he wants me to hang them up. During the siege of the Acropolis, Kioutachis repeatedly tried to capture the Monastery but without success, as the popular poetry once again vividly expresses. Villages and plains and mountains and all the monasteries I stepped on them and burned them all to ashes, but Our Lady of Koulouri, the Great Monastery, where there are sixty signposts and twenty-three bells, with despotic priests, with ninety singers, she stands and fights me, I can't seem to take her. I made eleven forms and twenty-nine yurusia, but her fire burned me and I leave, I leave her. During the Revolution, he worked in the monastery and orphanage. After the death of Karaiskakis, in May 1827, Grigorios and the monks began to leave the monastery gradually for reasons of security, only to return after the beginning of September 1828 and to continue, despite the financial collapse of the monastery, the religious and national work. In the courtyard of the Monastery there is the tomb of the chieftain Yiannis Gouras. Newer history In front of and on the beach at the entrance of the Monastery is an old house where Angelos Sikelianos stayed from 1933 to 1950, with whom King Pavlos met every time he visited the Salamina naval station. Architecture The catholicon of the monastery The monastery is organized around the central precinct and has the form of a fortress. It includes cells, kitchens, dining room (bank), workshops, storerooms and the chapel of the Holy Apostles. The buildings alone are either two- or three-story and have porticoes to the central courtyard, which are now arched and made of reinforced concrete. There are towers in the south-west and south-east corners. The church of the monastery (Catholic) is located in the northern part of the precinct. The catholicon of the monastery is a three-aisled basilica with a dome. The dome is higher than the rest of the complex, as a result of which it is visible from a distance when one approaches the monastery. The dome is octagonal and of the Athenian type. The roof of the church is gabled. At each corner of the roof of the catholicon are square turrets which were probably hermitages. Three of them, on the north-west, north-east and south-east sides, have a small three-sided niche on their east wall. Celebration The Holy Monastery of Manifested Salamis is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary and celebrates on August 23rd. Composition The Monastery remained a men's monastery until July 27, 1944, when it was converted into a women's monastery by the Metropolitan of Attica and Megarid Iakovos. Today, apart from the abbess, 17 other nuns are abandoned in it. Visiting hours: Monday 7:00am–1:00pm, 3:00–7:30pm Tuesday 7:00am–1:00pm, 3:00–7:30pm Wednesday 7:00am–1:00pm, 3:00–7:30pm Thursday 7:00am–1:00pm, 3:00–7:30pm Friday 7:00am–1:00pm, 3:00–7:30pm Saturday 7:00am–1:00pm, 3:00–7:30pm Sunday 7:00am–1:00pm, 3:00–7:30pm. Source of photographic material: el.wikipedia.org