A Sunday's ride: Monastery of Tsouka.

in Outdoors3 years ago

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Hello everyone, it has been a while since i last ride my Motorcycle. This sunday I decided to take her or a small ride nearby,
that's the mood above. Αt 16km from my house there is an Orthodox Christian monastery with an astonising view which is located near village Elliniko. Let's start up the V-strom and drive out of town.

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The ride to the monastery is smooth with light turns which you can enjoy in low an high speed, it's in your hand literally. As you arrive to the monastery you have the illusion that you are outside of a small fortress which According to tradition, it was founded in 1190 by the emperor Isaac II Angelos and flourished during the time of the Despotate of Epirus.It was destroyed in 1736 and renovated in 1779, according to an inscription inside the monasterie's central church. He acquired a large fortune and had a significant social contribution, while financially maintaining the school of Elliniko. It was famous for its water, which was considered thermal. It remained abandoned for many years but was restored in the late 1990s, when its cells and ancillary facilities were restored.

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The complex looks like a fortress, as it is surrounded by a high wall and the two-storey buildings of the cells. In the center of the space is the church, which probably dates to the end of the 17th century.The church is single-aisled, cruciform inscribed and a portico with two columns is formed at its entrance. It is carefully built of white hewn stones and its interior is decorated with frescoes made in the late 18th century. An inscription states that the church was hagiographed at the expense of the owner Alexios Papaioannou and in 1779 the gilding of its iconostasis was completed, at the expense of the abbot Gabriel. On the southwest side of the church there is a large cistern with a roof, while the bell tower is a later addition, of 1866, as stated in the relevant inscription.

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Near the entrance of the monastery there is a chapel of Panagia, while at the back there is a special area from where one can admire the magnificent view to the ravine of Arachthos which has 470m depth. The people responsible for the monastery and the area near it, has maintained everything very well. As you move towards the canyon the view is astonishing.

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A really nice place to chill out for a bit, relax and enjoy the view with the serenity this spot offers. There was built some rock benches with table that was yelling "sit down and enjoy a cup of coffe with me". So we did, it felt like five minutes but we stayed there for 2 hours, realy relaxing feeling.

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It was time to take the road back home. The feeling was joy,calm and serenity, batteries was full for the week that is waiting for us to be productive and hard working machines.

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Hi @papadog! This was a cool place you visited and full of history. I noticed you used #haveyoubeenhere.

You have to pin the location where you went to in pinmapple or you can read this: https://peakd.com/hive-163772/@louis88/how-to-use-pinmapplecom-search-publish-and-pin-travel-posts