Metropolitan of Austria visited the Holy Monastery of Toplou in Sitia

On the afternoon of Tuesday, 20 October 2026, Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria visited the historic and renowned Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Toplou in Sitia.

He was accompanied by his Auxiliary Bishops, Paisios of Apameia and Maximos of Aristi; the Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne and Episcopal Vicar, Fr. Ioannis Nikolitsis; Presbytera Zografia Pipinou-Nikolitsi, a native of Sitia and Secretary of the Metropolis; and a group of Orthodox pilgrims, as part of their multi-day pilgrimage to the Great Island of Crete and its holy shrines.

The distinguished guests were received and welcomed with warm words at the ancient monastery by Metropolitan Kyrillos of Ierapetra and Sitia, together with the Abbot of the Monastery, Archimandrite Ambrosios Skarvelis, and the former Abbot, Archimandrite Philotheos Spanoudakis. They guided the visitors through the Katholikon (the monastery’s main church) and the Ecclesiastical Museums, which house icons, artefacts, early printed books, engravings, and collections relating to the Cretan Revolutions. After the tour, the visit concluded with a trip to the world-famous, emblematic palm forest of Vai and with an agape meal…