Kanalon Monastery, Orthodox monastery at Mount Olympus foothills, Greece
Kanalon Monastery stands at 820 m on the slopes of Mount Olympus, 8 km east of Karya on the road to Leptokarya, above the Ziliana river. Its katholikon, a three-aisled basilica with a dome and a raised women's gallery, was rebuilt in 1883 by architect Efthymios Milios of Pentalofos using local stone and marble. The fortified wall, about 3.5 m high and 1 m thick, encloses the refectory with three frescoed apses, the single-room chapel of Saint Demetrios, and a few cells.
The earliest written record is a 1638 inscription: abbot Kallinikos funded the repainting of the katholikon's narthex, not the building of the All Saints chapel, whose frescoes were painted in 1668 under the same abbot. The monastery flourished in the 17th century under Kallinikos and Symeon, who built the chapel of Saint Demetrios in 1684. The katholikon collapsed in 1881 and was rebuilt in 1883 by architect Efthymios Milios; the monastery was abandoned in 1930 and reopened as a convent in 2001.
The monastery takes its name from four wild brooks, called kanalia ("channels"), that once sprang near the site and joined to form the Ziliana river. The convent celebrates its feast on 8 September, the Nativity of the Theotokos, to whom the katholikon is dedicated. Monks lived here until 1930; since 2001 it has been a women's convent.
The convent stands 8 km east of Karya on the Karya–Leptokarya road, about 18 km from Leptokarya, at 820 m above the Ziliana river. The main gate is on the north-east side of the fortified enclosure, whose wall survives to roughly 3.5 m high and 1 m thick. Two similar stone fountains with domed roofs on four columns stand on the north side, one outside and one inside; the outer one is carved with the date 2 May 1847.
The monastery's name comes from four wild brooks, called kanalia ("channels"), that once sprang near the site and joined to form the Ziliana river. The convent stands at 820 m on the road from Karya to Leptokarya, about 7 km by air from ancient Leivithra.
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