This was established in 1305 in honor of the Dormition of the Virgin
but was renamed Monastery of Taxiarhon in 1306 after the discovery of the icon
of Archangel Michael (one of the Taxiarchi) in the following miraculous way: When
the monk Parthenios of Morea on the Greek mainland, painted the icon, he dedicated
it to this monastery and tossed it into the sea. The waves brought it to the shore
of Thymiana in Chios. The villagers who found it decided to build a church in
which to place it, but the Archangel appeared in their dreams and instructed them
to bring the icon to this monastery instead. The present monastic structures were
built after the original ones were destroyed in the terrible earthquakes of 1881.
Today there are eight nuns; the monastery celebrates its feast day on November
8.
