Filosofou Monastery, Byzantine monastery in Gortynia, Greece

Filosofou Monastery is a Byzantine monastic complex set along the Lousios Gorge in the Gortynia region of the Peloponnese. It consists of two separate structures: the older section built into a natural rock overhang, and a newer building erected further up the slope in the 17th century.

The monastery was founded in 963, making it one of the oldest in the Arcadia region. The original building eventually fell into disrepair, and monks built a new one further up the slope in the 17th century.

The monastery is named after its founder, Ioannis Lampardopoulos of Dimitsana, secretary to Emperor Nikephoros Phokas, who was nicknamed "the Philosopher". The old monastery was known as the "Kryfo Scholeio" (Hidden School) because, by tradition, a school operated there during the Ottoman period; it later grew into a major priestly school at the new monastery, which produced four Patriarchs of Jerusalem and two Ecumenical Patriarchs.

The monastery is best reached on foot along the Menalon Trail, which can be accessed from Dimitsana or the Lousios valley floor. Wear sturdy shoes, as the paths run along the gorge slopes and can get steep in places.

The old monastery's 10th-century church survives intact inside the cave, with an octagonal dome and wall paintings; only the monks' cells and other buildings around it are ruined, along with a cistern. The church is an inscribed cross-in-square with four columns, and the complex is reached on foot about 500 m beyond the new monastery, some 50 m deeper in the gorge.