The Monastery is built at an altitude of 630 meters on Mount Orfanos. Perhaps one would say that the name of the mountain was due to the minimal vegetation seen on the mountain. It’s not about that. Tradition says that the mountain got its name from an event.
The Monastery dates, like those of Zarkos, Panagitsa and the still abandoned Grizanos, to 1700 AD. A child who was orphaned by his parents was tending his flock on the mountain 4 km from the center of Oichalia. Tradition says that the Virgin appeared to this child, indicating the spot where she wanted her house to be built. The will of the Virgin Mary came true and the term was named Orphanos, after the child who orphaned a small one.
Many Fathers served in the Monastery. This is evidenced, since anyone entering the Narthex of the Temple will see the ossuary with the Holy Relics of the Monks. The only inscription that gives signs of the life of Nuns in the monastery is the one in the Catholic Sanctuary and in particular in Agia Proskomidi, which commemorates Hieromonk Ambrosios Handzis as Abbot of the Monastery.
According to the testimonies of residents, the last monk lived in the monastery until 1940. The monk went down to Oichalia asking for support from the residents. The monk disappeared and perhaps the event was due to the war.
The monastery was abandoned for more than 65 years. It was looted, desecrated by sacrileges, until the Virgin wanted her house to be warmed again and to accept the joy and prayers of her faithful. The only relic that was saved and handed over and housed today in the monastery is the icon of the Virgin Mary which dates back to 1820. Ten years ago, the Divine Grace showed the way to Archimandrite Dorotheos who really gave life to the Holy Monastery. During his ten-year presence, he renovated the Holy Church and part of the buildings, creating the cell and the auxiliary spaces as well as the mansion, while at the same time he shaped the courtyard giving the feeling of a small paradise.
