On 12 May at the Kythera celebrates its historic pilgrimage Saint Theodoros, who belongs to our local hagiology.
The monastery of Saint Theodoros of Kythera
Ο Saint Theodore, patron saint of Kythera, according to his life, was born in Koroni of Messinia between the years 870-890. He grew up and studied in Nafplio, where he married and had two children. His desire to be single brought him to Rome and then to Monemvasia, where he was confined to a cell in the church of Our Lady of Deaconess.
From there he came to Kythera around 921, when the island was “desolate and invincible” due to the invasions of the Saracens of Crete, and he lived in the old Christian temple of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, which seems to have been founded on the site of a pagan temple in honour of Dionysus. In 922, on May 12, Hosios Theodoros died and shortly after his death sailors passing by from Kythera found his remains intact.
Three years later, in 925, Monemvassians buried the relic of the saint. The old church of Saints Sergios and Bacchus was rebuilt by Monemvasians and dedicated to Hosios Theodoros. Over time, a monastery was created, which acquired property, which was cultivated by priests, laymen and monks.
The chronicle of the Kytherian monk Chila is a valuable source for the history of the monastery. It is a report to the Venetians, which was written around 1460. According to the chronicle, the monastery belonged to the jurisdiction of the Latin feudal lords Venerians, to whom they paid an annual tax from the monastery's income. In the mid-14th century, the monastery was taken over by a protopapas Notaras.
Around 1630 the bishop of Kythera, Athanasios Valerianos, renovated the church of the Saint, in which various alterations and additions were made. Above the main entrance, an impressive doorway with a commemorative plaque was installed, which bears the inscription “TOIS DIONYSIAKOIS ATHANASIE PROFRON AGLAISI PTILOSI HYPSITRONO TEMENNO. AND TO THE SHARP-EYED MACAR OF THE VIRTUOUS ONES, THIS IS THE LIGHT OF THE THREE HEAVENS”.
An attempt to give a free translation of the above epigram is the following:
«Immortal zealot, you have flown high with glorious wings and surpassed the Dionysian worship and raised the old temple of Dionysus to a glorious mosque. And with the infinite depth of thy virtue thou shalt receive abundant light from the heavenly Trinity.»
From time to time the monastery organized various «beggings» to meet the expenses of the temple. Around the monastery a residential area was created, inhabited by the families of the priests. According to archival evidence, in 1695 the monastery had 10 cells with nuns and novices and was under the direct supervision of the Bishop of Kythera, to whom the parish priest was obliged to give a detailed report on every matter.
Moreover, the bishop in question assigns the pastoral care and looks after the property of the church. Thus, in the registry record it is mentioned «the Episcopal church of St Theodore».»
During the period 1762-1808 the abbot of the monastery was the priest Meletios Sofianos, who belonged to one of the most powerful families of Monemvasia. Other parish priests who served the monastery in the 18th and 19th centuries were the priest Antonios Faceas, the priest George Charamuntanis, the priest Nicholas Charamuntanis, the priest Dimitris Charamuntanis, the priest Nicholas Prineas, the priest John Kalokairinos, the priest Kosmas Pavlakis.
The famous «Allodidactic School of Saint Theodore of the Archdiocese» operated in the monastery's precincts during the years of the English rule.
