Monastery of Saint John the Theologian

The Monastery of Saint John the Theologian stands in wooded country just outside the village of Zarko, near the border with Larissa prefecture. Founded in the 15th century, it operated as a male monastery until 1897, when Ottoman forces destroyed it after Greek troops fortified themselves there. Abandoned, it suffered further damage during the civil war. The katholikon is a single-aisled church with a dome, built in the Athonite triconch type, a variant of the complex cross-in-square plan with an elongated western arm and a narthex. Its rare wall paintings, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, are fine examples of the Northwestern Greek school. A carved wooden iconostasis and portable icons survive from the 17th century. In 1992 the cells were restored; in 1995 a female sisterhood settled here, led by Abbess Isidora. The monastery celebrates on 8 May and 26 September.