Klara's Cottage : Blue Gate on the Filerimos hill ////////// Niebieska Brama na wzgórzu Filerimos

Language #1 - Read in English Language #2 - Czytaj po polsku

In the fifteenth century, the knights of St. John built a monastery on the hill of Filerimos. The name 'Filerimos' comes from two Greek words 'philos' = friend and 'eremos' = lonely, meaning a friend of loneliness.

Around about the thirteenth century, a hermit came here with the icon of the Holy Mother of Jerusalem. Another story says that the icon was brought here by the Knights of St. John, who founded a church here. For centuries, this icon has travelled across Europe, through Malta, Saint Petersburg to Denmark, and finally to Montenegro, where it still remains in the local National Museum.

Knights built a monastery in the Gothic style right next to the Byzantine part. During the Turks invasion, it was almost completely destroyed. Italians rebuilt it. The remains of the ancient temple of Athena Polias remain:

Doric fountain, as well as the church of St. George dated to about the fourteenth century:

And this is my 'Blue Gate'. As soon as I saw the gate that leads into the abyss, I thought of 'Game of Thrones'.

There is also an alley called Golgotha. We watched stations of the Way of the Cross along with it. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Franciscans living in the monastery added it to the complex.

At the end there is a steel and concrete cross, which is also an observation deck.

This is a claustrophobic place, with a narrow, winding staircase leading to the top, where two people require almost any gymnastic abilities to pass by. A joke, it was not that bad. Although I climbed up, I tried to forget that there was only a thin wall of concrete next to the stairs. The view is really great: the sea, Iallyssos and the airport.

The general movement (and hundreds of photos) is also caused by peacocks, who walk freely within the monastery. You have to wait a bit to show the feathers, but it's worth it. They represent beautifully.

Filerimos Monastery is a beautiful place. We walked, but you can also go there by car. Halfway, I cursed myself that I did not get this idea, but the views were great, so it was worth to take a stroll.