Monastery of Asomatou Archangel Michael

Is located outside Vafkeri, crumbling, one of the most significant and rich monasteries of the island. It is estimated to have been founded in the 16th century, during the years of Turkish domination. According to the historian K. Machera, it existed long before 1681. The first church was a little single placed room with a saddled wooden roof completed by small low roofed cells. In 1700, during Venetian domination, the monastery had been flourishing with 19 cells, many fields and animals. All monastery’s settlement were located in a rich verdant valley. In our days, only the ruins of the facilities of the monastery, the cells, the guestrooms, the storehouses, the oil press and the stables are evidences of the past economic strength.
The catholicon of the church has important wall paintings, which were created at the end of the 16th century until the beginning of the 17th century, covering all of the church’s walls. It is worth to admire the “Panagia Platitera” to the edge of sanctum and on the top, the “Ascension of Christ”. The icon of “Akras Tapinosis” (Total Humiliation)to the edge of offertory, the “Vision Of Agios Petros” and the “Sacrifice of Avraam” composing magnificent representations, like the zone of the Prophets and the whole body saints. One of the most well preserved representations with soft and warm colors is the “the miracle of Archangel Michael”, to whom the monastery is dedicated.