One of the most visited sites on Aegina is the church of Agios Nektarios and the monastery of Agia Triada (The Holy Trinity) is located on a higher level overlooking the church.
Agios Nektarios of Aegina (1846-1920), is one of the most widely known Greek Orthodox Saints. He was officially recognised as a saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1961. Yearly, thousands of people from all over the world come to Aegina to visit the tomb of Agios Nektarios for healing purposes, to pray to him or ask for his blessings. Agios Nektarios is also the Patron Saint of Aegina.
The Monastery of Agios Nektarios in Aegina is one of the largest Monasteries of Greece and one of the largest orthodox churches in the Balkans.
It is located 6 km from the centre of Aegina Town and was founded by the Bishop of Pentapolis Nektarios around the period of 1904-1910, after the request of several nuns. Bishop Nektarios settled down in Aegina in 1908, yet the Monastery operated again in 1904 under his guidance while he remained in Rizarios School. He lived in the monastery for 13 years and he was buried under a plane tree outside the church of the monastery.
Inside the monastery, there are two small chapels that actually host the tomb and holy relics of Agios Nektarios. His cell which was his home is found behind the two chapels and it is open to the public.
Close to the Monastery, there is an imposing church, dedicated to the Saint. The church has two high bell towers and four series of windows, all covered with red bows. Following the steps up, there is the church of Holy Trinity.
Agios Nektarios was known as a great miracle worker, particularly as a healer of cancer and of every sort of disease, he was also a prolific writer, theologist, philosopher, moralist, educator, poet, ascetic and mystic. Above all Agios Nektarios was a man of deep prayer, and a hard worker who laboured just like everyone else around him, no work was ever dishonourable to him.
In 1904 at the request of several nuns, he established a Monastery for women on Aegina named The Holy Trinity, where he lived for the rest of his life as a monk. He wrote, published, preached, and heard confessions from those who came from near and far to seek out his spiritual insights.
Agios Nektarios is also known for his innumerable miracles and his healing abilities when he cured a demonized man. Another significant event convinced the locals of his sainthood when they asked him to pray for a drop of rain on the island. Those two events were perceived as signs from God. After a severe illness, he died in 1920.
His memory is celebrated on the 9th of November, on the name day of Nektarios. There are services in the church on the night before and there is a special procession in the morning, where the remains of Agios Nektarios are carried through the streets of Aegina town.
*Main source: Aegina Greece
Aegina
Aegina is one of the largest in the Saronic group of Greece, about 26 km south-southwest of Piraeus.
