A majestic church with an impressive large courtyard paved with pebbles. It began as a monastery in 1700 but in 1800 became the main church of the island. On April 3, 1800, the uprising of Spetses against the Turks began here.

Situated at the center of the promenade of Ntapia Palio Limani, Agios Nikolaos is one of the most beautiful beaches of Spetses. Lined up from the white and blue seafarers mansions, the beach is set under the Cathedral of Agios Nikolaos. If you are looking for a pebbled beach to enjoy a swim in crystalline waters, then Agios Nikolaos beach is for you! Above all, Agios Nikolaos is one of the locals’ favorite beaches! Undeniably, this beach is a must if you are visiting Spetses!

A magnificent church on the island with an impressive huge pebble courtyard above the Old Port in the village of Biziza. It started as a monastery in 1700 and from 1800 it functioned as a metropolitan temple. Here, on April 3, 1821, the rebellion of the Spetsiots against the Turks began.

The main church of the monastery houses pictures of Saint Nicholas who is the patron saint of the island but also of fishermen and sailors.

During the pre-revolutionary years the monastery of Agios Nikolaos was a successor to the then Metropolitan of Spetses, the Dormition of the Theotokos in Kastelli.

The Monastery and the Revolutionary Struggle

In the courtyard of the Monastery of Agios Nikolaos, on the evening of April 2, 1821, all the elders of Spetses, together with the priests of the island and a large part of the population, gathered. A few days earlier in the cities of the Peloponnese the Revolution had been declared and the Spetses were called upon to take part, as they had done in any uprising against the Turks in the past. At dawn on Sunday, April 3, 1821, they proclaimed, first of all the islands, the Revolution at Spetses, and at Agios Nikolaos the island's revolutionary flag was raised.

Paul Marie Bonaparte

Prince Paul Marie Bonaparte, son of Lycien Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger brother, in 1827 and while studying at the University of Bologna pops it and uses a foreign name to pass through Greece via Elbow. He comes to fight alongside Greece and is part of the orders of the English Admiral Cochran, commanded by the Greek fleet since the end of March 1827 and serves on the "Hellas" flagship. When Cochran's flask was moored in the strait outside Spetses, on August 25 / September 6, 1827, the unlucky Paul Marie Bonaparte was fatally wounded while cleaning his gun. The lifeless body of the young prince was transported by sailors across from Spetses to the monastery of Agios Nikolaos and there the monks of the monastery kept his corpse for five years in a barrel of rum. In 1832, the corpse was delivered to the French navy. He was transferred to Sfakteria - the small islet that encloses the Bay of Navarino - where he was buried near his tomb also of Philadelphia's Santaros and near the mausoleums of the Navy.

Architecture

The bell tower of Agios Nikolaos, which has been described as a masterpiece of art, has been the subject of special study. It was built by Thaian marble and Tinian craftsmen in 1805. Similar bell towers were built at the same time in Hydra and Tinos. The bell tower of Agios Nikolaos is 10 meters high and with its base reaches 16 meters.

In the magnificent pebble courtyard in front of the Monastery of Saint Nicholas there is a monument to the fallen - bronze work by sculptor V. Kesse, framed by two canons of the Revolutionary era.

It celebrates December 6th and is a local holiday.

Tel. Contact: 22980 72423