Panagia monastery at Lygia
The small monastery of Panagia at Ligia is dedicated to Zoodochos Pigi (Life Giving Spring) and is located in a wooded area near village Stavrochori, province Sitia. There are several dirt roads leading to the site, with the most passable (5.2 km long) starting from the church of Agios Fanourios on the road that connects Koutsouras with Stavrohori. The monastery is inactive, but a great feast takes place during the Life Giving Spring day (first Friday after Easter).
The monastery was built around 1880 at a point where there is a source of water that gave life to crops. There is a very large courtyard, actually a huge balcony, with a great view of the sea. The temple is simple, small and single-nave, built next to the spring.
Shortly before reaching the monastery, we meet the cavernous temple of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (celebr. June 29), next to an impressive cliff. Above the temple we can see a steep crack on the rock, which is said to have been created miraculously, when some besieged women and children prayed not to fall into the hands of the enemies that approached them, thus they managed to escape from there. Also, the local tradition wants Saint Paul to have visited the place.
