St. Georgi Zograph Monastery – Aton (Greece)

According to the legend, the St. Georgi Zograph monastery was established back in 919 by three brothers – Moses, Aaron and Ivan Selima from Ohrid. When they built the cloister, the monks didn’t know which one of all the saints to choose as their patron. Therefore, they prepared a wooden board, on which they were to paint the portrait of their patron and, leaving it in the church, they went into deep prayer, asking God to reveal the name of the Saint. In the morning, the monks were astonished to see the face of St. Georgi on the board. They called him “Izograph” (which means “self-portrayed"). The legend says that the moment this miracle happened, the image of St. Georgi on an icon in a Syrian monastery, attacked by Arabs, disappeared.
In the yard of the monastery, there is a monument of 22 monks and 4 lay brothers, who were burnt alive on 10 October 1275 in the tower, built by Ivan Asen II. These martyrs refused to give up their religion and were murdered by crusaders, who attacked and destroyed the monastery. The monument was built in the place of the tower in 1873.