Monastery of Hosios Loukas – Livadeia & Krya – Tour

We start our One Day Tour and we will depart for the Monastery of Hosios Loukas. Hosios Loukas is a historic walled monastery situated near the town of Distomo, in Boeotia. It is one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine architecture and art. It has been listed on UNESCO‘s World Heritage Sites. The Monastery of Hosios Loukas is situated at a scenic site on the slopes of Mount Helicon. It was founded in the early 10th century AD by the hermit, Venerable St. Luke, whose relics are kept in the monastery to this day. Hosios Loukas is the largest of three monasteries surviving from the Middle Byzantine period in Greece. There is evidence that the monastery was reputed all over Byzantium for its lavish decoration, liberally applied to all surfaces. Then, we will depart for Livadeia, which is the capital of the regional district of Boeotia. Pausanias, in the 2^nd century AD reported that the original name of the city was Mideia, and that it took its name Livadeia from Lebados of Athens, who moved the city from high to low ground, to its current location on the banks of the Herkyna river. We will visit the area of Krya. It is a place of unique beauty. The area is full of sources, supplied by the river of Herkyna. It is believed that in ancient times, Krya was the oracle of Zeus Trophonius, the sources of Lethe and Mnemosyne and the precursor for Delphi. Water mills, small waterfalls, stone bridges and huge plane trees form a landscape of exquisite beauty.