The Holy Transfiguration Monastery of Sotiros, otherwise known as Megalo Meteoro, is the largest and oldest monastery and belongs to the UNESCO world heritage site. It is a male monastery founded around the 14th century by Athanasios, the Meteorite. He built a temple dedicated to the Virgin called Panagia is Meteoritissa Petra. At the same time, its second founder and successor was the student of Athanasios, Ioannis Uresis Palaiologos, who became a monk there under the name Ioasaf. In 1387-1388, he built a new and more modern than the previous temple in place of temple. Athanasios and Joasaph are ranked among the Saints and are honored on April 20. The monastery, with the seal of Patriarch Jeremiah I, gained total independence, like the monasteries on Mount Athos. At a short distance from the monastery's gate, there is the tower of the brizon, in which there was the mechanism for the net, and the cellar of the sanctuary (vagenarium), which today functions as a museum. Then there is the hearth, the dining room, with the hospital and nursing home to the east and the catholicon to the right. The katholikon was created in 1544-1545 and was dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Savior. Its frescoes are believed to be of the Macedonian school. Next to the holy platform is the vaulted chapel of the Holy Forerunner, and to the southwest is the chapel of Saints Constantine and Helen, built-in 1789. Above the monastery are the chapels of the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Baptist, Saints Apostles, and Saint Nektarios. Impressive is the sacristy, which contains pieces of the skulls of the monks who lived there. George, a student of Theophanos of Crete, probably created the frescoes of the temple and the narthex. The Great Meteoron, both in ancient times and today, is the main center of monasticism. To enter the monastery, men are required not to wear sleeveless tops and shorts above the knee and women long skirts below the knee.
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