Panagia Paleokastritsa Monastery

The Monastery of the Mother of God at Paleokastritsa stands on a wooded hill overlooking the sea and beaches of Corfu. Founded in 1225 on the site of an ancient fortress, it includes the Church of the Life-Giving Spring, an old mill, a museum, and a wishing well. The main church, with painted ceilings inspired by northern Italian churches, preserves a miracle-working icon of the Virgin and Child. The museum displays old books, manuscripts, 18th- and 19th-century icons, church vessels, whale bones, and an enormous seashell. An arched courtyard with bougainvillea and mosaics leads to the monastic cells.

Tradition says the Virgin herself chose the site. A shepherd saw a light on the cliff and found an icon resting on a rock. Every attempt to move it to a church failed because the icon returned to the cliff, which was taken as a sign to build the monastery there.