The Tomb of St Paisios at Souroti & Agia Anastasia

Saint Paisios the Athonite (1924–1994) is one of the most widely venerated modern Greek saints, canonised in 2015. He is buried not on Mount Athos but at a small convent outside Souroti, a village thirty kilometres south-east of Thessaloniki, about thirty-five minutes by road.

The convent opens to pilgrims on four days only: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. That is why this tour does not run daily, and why we reach the gate before it opens. The queue for the tomb normally takes an hour to ninety minutes, and we have written that into the timetable instead of hoping it away.

Twenty minutes further on, at Vasilika, we visit Agia Anastasia Farmakolytria, a patriarchal monastery founded in 888. Both places are free to enter. We are back in the city by roughly 14:15.

Your day, step by step

1. 08:30
   White Tower: first pickup

   Your escort waits on Nikis Avenue with an Exit Bus sign. Please arrive ten minutes early. Have your coffee before you come — there is no comfort stop on this route, the drive is too short to need one.

2. 08:45
   Aristotelous Square: departure

   The main pickup, on the corner of Aristotelous and Tsimiski. Most of the group boards here. We leave on time because everything today hangs on a gate that opens at 10:00 and closes again at 15:00.

3. 08:55
   Sintrivani and out of the city

   Last city pickup, then east towards Thermi. Your escort explains who St Paisios was and why he matters to Greeks, and repeats the two rules that catch visitors out: the dress code, and the total ban on photography at Souroti.

4. 09:15
   Thessaloniki Airport (SKG)

   We stop at arrivals for anyone staying near the airport or coming straight off a flight. This is not a detour — the airport sits between the city and Souroti, just 17 km from the convent.

5. 09:40
   Souroti: arriving before the gate opens

   Thirty kilometres from Thessaloniki, about thirty-five minutes of driving. We deliberately stand outside the gate twenty minutes early, because the front of the queue moves in a fraction of the time the back does. Final clothing check happens here, not inside.

6. 10:00
   The gate opens — the queue for the tomb

   The Hesychasterion of St John the Theologian is a convent, founded in 1967 and run by nuns. It does not receive organised groups, so we go in one by one as ordinary pilgrims rather than as a tour. Expect one to one and a half hours of queuing, in near silence.

7. 11:15
   The tomb of St Paisios

   St Paisios the Athonite died on 12 July 1994 and was canonised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in January 2015. He never lived here — he was buried here, and the grave is a plain wooden cross over bare earth. There is no ticket, and no photographs of any kind.

8. 11:40
   St Arsenios of Cappadocia and the bookshop

   The same convent holds the relics of St Arsenios of Cappadocia, the priest who baptised Paisios in Farasa in 1924. The nuns run a publishing house and sell the elder's writings in Greek and English. Back at the coach by 12:00.

9. 12:05
   On to Vasilika

   Fourteen kilometres, roughly twenty minutes through olive groves and vineyards towards the Thessaloniki–Polygyros road. The last 3.5 km is a narrow climb, which is exactly why we run this tour on a 21-seat Sprinter and not a full-size coach.

10. 12:25
    Agia Anastasia Farmakolytria Monastery

    A patriarchal and stavropegic monastery at the 32nd kilometre marker, founded in the late 9th century — tradition credits Empress Theophano, first wife of Leo VI the Wise. It was refounded in 1522 by Theonas, a monk from Mount Athos who later became Metropolitan of Thessaloniki. The church you enter was rebuilt after the monastery was burned in June 1821, when its imperial heirlooms were lost.

11. 13:05
    Relics, chapel and grounds

    Here you can venerate a fragment of the True Cross, a relic of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, and St Theonas himself. Inside the courtyard stands the chapel of St Stephen; the monastery's thirteen outlying chapels — among them Sts Kyrikos and Ioulitta, with rare 16th-century frescoes of the Galatsanoi school — are scattered across the mountain and there is no time for them. Entry here is free as well.

12. 13:35
    Back to Thessaloniki

    Down the hill and onto the Polygyros road, thirty-five kilometres to the city. We drop you at the same points, with the last stop at Aristotelous around 14:15. Your afternoon is your own.

Pick-up points

• White Tower, Nikis Avenue08:30At the bus stop across from the tower. First pickup of the day.
• Aristotelous Square & Tsimiski08:45Main departure point. Departure time is counted from here.
• Sintrivani Square (Kamara – University)08:55Last city pickup, right on our exit road heading east.
• Central hotels (Tsimiski – Nikis – Egnatia)08:35On request, where the coach can stop safely.
• Thessaloniki Airport (SKG)09:15Genuinely on the way — only 17 km from Souroti. No surcharge.

Drop-off is at the same point where we picked you up.

Group & private pricing

Know before you go

• DRESS CODE — READ THIS FIRST. At Souroti, women are admitted ONLY in a loose skirt that falls below the knee, with shoulders covered. Trousers are NOT accepted, not even with a wrap or shawl over them, and neither are short skirts, sleeveless or off-shoulder tops. Men and children: no shorts, no sleeveless shirts. The convent lends NOTHING — no skirts, no scarves, no cover-ups — and turns people away at the gate. Come dressed correctly from your hotel.
• OPEN DAYS AND HOURS. Souroti receives pilgrims Tuesday and Thursday 10:00–13:00 and 17:00–19:00, Saturday 10:00–15:00, Sunday 11:00–13:00 and 17:00–19:00. It is closed Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The hours are the same all year round — there is no separate winter timetable. Our standard timetable above is the Saturday one; on Tuesday and Thursday we also leave at 08:45, and on Sunday at 09:45 because the gate opens an hour later.
• CLOSED PERIODS. Souroti shuts completely during Clean Week and Holy Week — dates that move every year with Orthodox Easter, so we check them before confirming your booking. On 12 July, the saint's feast day, the queue runs two to four hours and thousands of pilgrims arrive; we do not sell the half-day version on that date, only a separate full-day programme. On the eve, 11 July, vehicles are not allowed up to the monastery at all — the convent shuttles pilgrims in on its own buses — so we do not run on that date either.
• NO PHOTOGRAPHY. Photography and video are completely forbidden anywhere inside the Souroti grounds. This is a rule, not a request, and it is enforced. At Agia Anastasia, ask before you raise a camera.
• QUEUING ON YOUR FEET. Budget one to one and a half hours standing at Souroti, much of it outdoors — hot in summer, cold and exposed in winter. Bring a hat, water and comfortable shoes. Anyone who cannot manage the wait can sit in the monastery grounds or back on the coach.
• ACCESSIBILITY. Both monasteries have steps and uneven paving, and Agia Anastasia is reached by a narrow 3.5 km climb off the main road. The coach goes all the way to the entrance, but there are no ramps or lifts. Please tell us about any mobility issues when you book so we can plan around them.
• ONE HONEST NOTE. The skull and right foot of St Anastasia were stolen in April 2012 and have never been recovered — they are no longer at the monastery. What you will venerate there is a fragment of the True Cross and relics of the Apostle Andrew, St Theonas and St Matrona of Moscow. We say so in advance so nobody arrives expecting otherwise.