Hosios Loukas, the monastery listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List that was affected by fires in Central Greece, is again open to pilgrims and visitors from Greece and abroad, the father superior of the Greek Orthodox monastery said on Tuesday.
All spaces are open to the public and cleaned of fire remains, except for a section in front of the semi-destroyed building that housed the late superior Papa-Ioassaf. The roof is burnt but its four walls are in good condition and the building can be restored.
The 10th-century monastery in Stiri of Boeotia was open on Tuesday, when it received a lot of visitors, including a delegation from the National Metsovian Polytechnic that has set up a system for registering earthquakes on the site. Olive and almond trees in the area did not survive the fire, but the oak trees on the entrance of the monastery survived. Power is back, and a group of firefighters remains in the area.
Hosios Loukas is one of a group of Greek monasteries of a particular Byzantine era on the UNESCO list, along with the Monasteries of Daphni near Athens and Nea Moni on Chios island.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
