Ταξιάρχης

"Taxiarchis" is the protector and patron saint of Mantamados but is also considered the protector of the whole island.

To this day, his image is awe-inspiring with the strict style of the Archangel, the big eyes and the black color, the terrible sword, and the gilded wings.

The icon inside the church is one of the few reliefs in the entire Orthodox world. According to legend, the monastery was attacked by Saracen pirates, who slaughtered the monks with the exception of a young probationary monk, who managed to hide on the roof of the church. From there he saw after the massacre the figure of the Archangel fluttering over the corpses of the monks. Taking soil, which had been watered with their blood, and a candle, he made the figure of the "Brigadier", as he managed to see it. Today we see only the head and not the whole body, as the monk had made it. Believers still wear iron shoes as tamata, because tradition wants the Archangel to wear them at night. The church celebrates the Sunday of the Myrrh Bearers, two weeks after the Resurrection, with a large religious and commercial festival accompanied by a bull sacrifice and then the preparation of the traditional food "kiskek", which is ceremoniously distributed to the pilgrims. The latter still to a large extent come to Agios on foot on the eve of the feast from miles away but also riders with their horses adorned to honor the Brigadier. The monastery is located north of Mantamados on the road leading to Skamni