Near the city of Lefkada, in a large pine grove on the top of the hill is a small but very picturesque monastery of Faneromeni. It seems to be the only active monastery on the island of Lefkada. I am an unbeliever but I am interested in the architecture of the monasteries and in the special atmosphere of these places.
We arrived at the monastery, completely unaware of what awaits us there.
Walking through the territory begins with the green alleys of a large garden surrounding the monastery.
At the entrance we are met by cats.
We visited many Greek monasteries and everywhere we were met by cats.
These cats looked very hungry and we fed them a little.
Entrance.
Patio.
The patio area is very small but the space is well organized.
There is always a place to relax.
Flowers everywhere.
The exit to the terrace with views of the west coast of the island and the azure waters of the Ionian Sea. I must say, for the construction of monasteries are always selected places with excellent views.
But the most amazing in the monastery of Faneromeni was a garden with a lot of different birds and animals! It was a complete surprise for us.
First we saw a spacious cage with parrots.
The parrots was there a lot. They were big and small, red, gray and green, very calm and very energetic.
This is the biggest parrot. Most of the time he sat motionless looking down at the smaller brothers. The smaller brothers were pecking the grain from the plates.
Below in the photo is the coolest parrot I've ever seen. The most beautiful and most talkative parrot!
At first he said something in Greek, then he started to crow. After we came to our senses, he spoke again. Parting with us, this delightful bird plaintively meowed.
Then, we saw an escape from the chicken coop.
Pheasants.
In the next cage there lived a crazy squirrel.
This squirrel was impossible to stop. It was impossible to catch her in the frame. Probably, that day, this squirrel set a new world record for speed of movement in a cage.
You see a single successful shot of a hundred made.
Several deer lived in the neighboring cage.
Also, we found a small pond with turtles!
That's how it is.
You come to look at architecture but you find yourself in a completely different world. Anyway, it was one of those rare occasions when what we saw exceeded all expectations.
The island of Lefkada, Greece.
July, 2018.
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