The ancient monastery of Ayios Ioannis Lampadistou is located in the small village of Kalopanaiotis, deep in the Troodos Mountains. Its appearance is linked to the tragic story of a 22-year-old local young man named John. The young man longed to go to a monastery and devote his life to serving God, but they tried to force him to marry. He stubbornly refused to marry, however, and eventually the offended bride tried to poison him by putting poison in his food. Fortunately, John survived, but lost his sight completely. Blinded but not losing his faith, the young man still managed to fulfil his dream and became a monk. He is credited with many miracles performed during his lifetime - he cast out demons from people and returned water to dried-up springs and rivers. After his death he was canonised.
The chapel of the monastery of Agios Ioannis Lampadistou still contains his relics, which are visited by pilgrims from all over the world. After all, people believe that visiting this place helps to strengthen faith. In addition, there is also kept his skull, safely hidden in a silver case.
It is believed that it is in honour of John and was built this monastery, but in fact Ayios Ioannis Lampadistou is just a rebuilt temple of St. Heraklidios.
At the moment the monastery is not inhabited by monks. Only once a year, on the day of the saint's death (4 October), a requiem service is held there.
Some time ago it was turned into a kind of church museum. There you can see well-preserved church utensils of those times, art objects and many interesting things created in the period from XII to XIX century. And also the main exhibit of the museum are the very walls of the monastery, decorated with beautiful frescoes of the 12th century.
