Holy Monastery of Koufi Petra
The female monastery of Koufi Petra (Hollow Stone) is built to the west and at a close distance from the monastery of Kremasta, also on the slopes of Mount Kavallara. The only mention of the monastery in the sources is the indirect reference in a contract of the monastery of Areti, in the year 1630, about the “place of the All-Holy Theotokos of Koufi Petra.” The abandoned –for an unknown period of time– monastery was reconstituted in 1866 by the nun, Eirini Chlapoutaki, sister of the then bishop of Petra, Meletios. Built in gradients because of the sloping ground, the monastery has the twin-naved cathedral at its highest point. The north aisle, dedicated to the Annunciation (March 25), was founded in the 19th century while the south, dedicated to the Birth of the Theotokos (September 8) was built in 1996. The remaining buildings also date to the 19th and, primarily, to the 20th centuries as a result of the expansion and the increased needs of the monastery.
