Guide · The monastery

Panormitis Monastery, Symi: the Archangel's bay

At the far end of Symi, in a bay of its own, stands the monastery of the Archangel Michael. Panormitis Monastery on Symi draws pilgrims from all over Greece, and a few boats from Rhodes stop there. Here is what you will see, and how to fit it in.

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Editorial team, symiboattrip.comUpdated October 18, 2026Reading time 6 min32 sources

On this topic: the tour Rhodes: Symi Island & Panormitis Monastery Day Trip by Boat 4.5 (1,872 reviews) 9 hours from$52per person Check availabilityFree to cancel until one day before

Quick answer

01What it is: The largest of the island's nine Archangel monasteries and its chief religious monument.¹
02Where: On the south-west side of Symi, among cypress and pine.²
03Its age: A written record from the 15th century; the church took its present form in 1783.³ ⁴
04Getting there: By caique or by road from Gialos, or on a ferry day from Rhodes.²
05The day trip: A 9-hour ferry day with 1 hour at the monastery, from $52.

A monastery at the end of the island

Most visitors to Symi never leave the harbor town, so Panormitis feels like a second island. The Monastery of the Archangel Michael stands on the south-west side of Symi, among cypress and pine trees, at the head of a sheltered bay.² The municipality calls it the largest and most glorious of the island's nine Archangel monasteries and its most important religious monument.¹

It is a place of real pilgrimage. The Municipality of Symi counts it, together with Patmos, among the two largest pilgrimage sites of the Dodecanese, and notes that its guest houses can take up to 500 people.³ Its great yearly feast, the festival of the Taxiarchs, is the biggest church and social event of the island, when thousands of pilgrims arrive.⁵

That matters for how you visit. This is a working monastery with services held in its church, not a museum that happens to have a church in it.⁶ Go in quietly, keep your voice low, and dress with the respect you would show in any church. Ask the staff or your boat crew if you are unsure about anything inside.

The ferry day

Rhodes, the monastery and the harbor town

8:30

Mandraki port

Meet by the fountain outside the Church of the Annunciation.
75 minutes

To Panormitis

The ferry Nikolaos X sails straight to the monastery.
1 hour

At the monastery

The church, the icon and the courtyard.
Next

Along the west coast

An hour's cruise round to the harbor town.
3.5 hours

Symi town

Free time in Gialos before the 75-minute run back.

From a holy icon to the church of 1783

The monastery began with an icon. According to the Holy Metropolis of Symi, it was built because the holy icon of the Archangel Michael was found in this place, and the miracles linked to it made both the Archangel and the monastery famous.⁴ A written record of the monastery exists from the 15th century.³

Pirates struck more than once. The church you see today took its present form in 1783, when the Symi monks Neophytos and Kallistos rebuilt the old church destroyed by raids, and the holy icon is kept inside it.⁴ The carved wooden iconostasis was completed in 1788 by a craftsman from Kos, and the whole church was painted in 1792.⁷

The twentieth century brought both the tower and tragedy. The tall bell tower was begun in 1905 and finished in 1911, in a Renaissance style with Baroque touches.⁸ During the Second World War the monastery hid a secret radio for Allied counter-intelligence, and when it was found, the abbot Chrysanthos Maroulakis and two others were executed in February 1944.⁹

Ways in

Four ways to reach the monastery

Way	From	At the monastery	From price
Ferry day, Nikolaos X	Mandraki, Rhodes	1 hour	from $52
Speedboat and bus	Rhodes	By bus from Symi town	from $47
Bus excursion	Gialos, Symi	1 hour	from $12
Panagia Skiadeni day trip	Rhodes	Ferry stop	Low-fare, limited seats

As the listings and Dodekanisos Seaways state them; prices are from-prices.¹⁰

Three ways to visit

Ferry day, speedboat day or the local bus

This page

Ferry day

Nikolaos X from Mandraki

Duration: 9 hours
At the monastery: 1 hour
Price: from $52

See details

Rhodes: Speedboat trip to Symi Town and Panormitis Monastery

Snack box

Speedboat and bus

From Rhodes

Duration: 7.5 hours
Rating: 4.40
Price: from $47

See details

On the island

Bus excursion

From Gialos

Duration: 2.5 hours
Bus ride: 45 minutes
Price: from $12

See details

Decision helper

Which way to the Archangel?

Match the visit to your plans

I am based in Rhodes I am staying on Symi I want the St George swim I want a quiet evening there I come for the feast

The ferry day

Monastery first, then 3.5 hours in the harbor town.

The bus excursion

2.5 hours from Gialos with 1 hour inside.

This site's boat

It swims at St George's Bay but skips the monastery.

A guest room

The monastery's guest houses take short stays.⁶

Plan ahead

Thousands of pilgrims arrive for the Taxiarchs.⁵

You can visit the monastery either by car, following an enjoyable route through a pine tree forest, or with ship day cruises that make a stop to the monastery.

Dodekanisos SeawaysSource 11

What you see inside the walls

The first thing most people photograph is the bell tower, which Dodekanisos Seaways notes can be seen from a great distance.¹¹ The municipality adds that it resembles the bell tower of the Zagorsk monastery near Moscow, and points to the courtyard paved with pebbles in geometric patterns.¹²

Inside the church the holy icon draws the faithful, beneath the painted walls and the carved iconostasis. Around the courtyard there are two museums, a folklore museum and a religious one.¹¹ The Ecclesiastical Museum shows relics and the many offerings that still arrive by sea in the monastery's bay.¹³

That last detail is the island's favorite story. The municipality says the sacristy keeps offerings that pilgrims send in bottles from all over the world, which the sea is said to wash up at the monastery.¹⁴ Whether you are a believer or not, standing in Panormitis bay on Symi and picturing a bottle drifting in on the tide is hard to forget.

Map

From the harbors of Rhodes to the bays of Symi

The crossing from Rhodes, the island with its beaches and the monastery in the south, then a close look at the harbor and the steps up to Chorio.

Map of the sea between the north-east coast of Rhodes and the island of Symi — Rhodes to Symi

Map of Symi from Gialos and Pedi in the north to Panormitis in the south — Around the island

Street map of the harbor of Gialos, the Kali Strata steps and the upper village of Chorio — Gialos and Chorio

1
Rhodes town (Mandraki and Kolona)
This site's boat leaves from Mandraki Harbor, and Sebeco Lines' speedboat from Kolona Harbor.
In Google Maps ↗
2
Faliraki
Faliraki Sea Lines picks up from four stops on the beach, the first at 10:00.
In Google Maps ↗
3
Kolymbia
A boarding option for this site's tour and the start of a Kolymbia boat to the island.
In Google Maps ↗
4
Gialos
The harbor of Symi, where SP Cruises' boat ties up; the merchants and captains of the island once lived here.¹⁵
In Google Maps ↗
5
Chorio
The oldest part of town, gathered around the castle and joined to the harbor by 500 stone steps.¹⁶
In Google Maps ↗
6
Nos
An organized beach next to Gialos, with umbrellas and sun beds.¹⁷
In Google Maps ↗
7
Emporios
The second harbor of the island, with a few houses and a beach with a taverna.¹⁸
In Google Maps ↗
8
Pedi
A seaside village 2 km from Chora; taxi boats leave from here for other beaches.¹⁹ ²⁰
In Google Maps ↗
9
Agios Nikolaos
A sandy beach with shallow, clear water and a taverna.²¹
In Google Maps ↗
10
Agia Marina
A small sandy beach facing a rocky islet with a church.²²
In Google Maps ↗
11
St George's Bay
Agios Georgios Dysalonas: a beach below a sheer cliff on the east coast, reached only from the sea.²³
In Google Maps ↗
12
Nanou
A pebble bay with a taverna, reached only from the sea.²⁴
In Google Maps ↗
13
Marathounda
One of the few beaches on the island that you can drive to.²⁵
In Google Maps ↗
14
Panormitis Monastery
The most important religious monument of the island, on the south-west side among cypress and pine.¹ ²
In Google Maps ↗
15
Clock Tower
The stone clock of 1881 on the waterfront, the first sight on arrival.²⁶
In Google Maps ↗
16
Kali Strata
A set of 500 wide steps between the harbor and Chorio.²⁷
In Google Maps ↗
17
Castle
Built in the 14th century by the Knights of St. John on the ruins of a Byzantine castle.²⁸
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

For your visit to the monastery

Respect

Clothes that show respect in a church
Quiet voices in the church and courtyard
Ask before photographing people at prayer

Planning

Your boat's time at the monastery
Money for the bakery and a candle
Water for the courtyard in summer

Cost calculator

What a monastery day costs your group

Pick a way in and the number of travelers.

Ferry day9 hoursfrom $52 Speedboat and bus7.5 hoursfrom $47 Bus excursion2.5 hoursfrom $12

People 2

Total from$104

per participant from $52

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Totals multiply each boat's lowest per-person fare on GetYourGuide by your group, converted at the European Central Bank rate; the checkout shows the binding sum.

Video

PANORMITIS MONASTERY - Symi Island - Greece [4k]

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The bakery, the bay and the guest rooms

Leave time for the small things outside the church. Dodekanisos Seaways recommends a stop at the traditional bakery of Panormitis for tourtes, the local cheese pies, and other fresh products.²⁹ On a hot day a cheese pie and a cold drink in the shade of the courtyard are part of the visit.

The bay itself is calm and green, and the municipality lists it among Symi's places to swim, a small sheltered cove that can be combined with a visit to the monastery.³⁰ Some ferry days stop only long enough for the monastery, so check your listing before you pack a swimsuit for this stop.

You can even stay. The monastery runs renovated guest houses for short stays, and the Holy Metropolis asks visitors to book them in good time by phone.⁶ A night at Panormitis turns a rushed hour into an evening by the water and a quiet morning before the first boats arrive.

Making the most of a short visit

An hour goes quickly at Panormitis, so decide on arrival what you want to see. Most people walk straight to the church, light a candle and look at the icon, then step back into the courtyard for photographs of the tower. If museums interest you, go to them first, while the boat's crowd is still in the church, and leave the courtyard and the bakery for the end.

Think about the heat as well. The courtyard is bright and paved, and in high summer the stones throw the sun back at you. A hat, water and a slow pace make the visit more pleasant, and the shaded arcades around the courtyard are the place to sit while you wait for the boat to sound its return.

Finally, remember why people come here. For many visitors this is a pilgrimage, sometimes made to keep a promise, and the quiet inside the church is part of what they came for. Photograph the tower and the bay freely, but put the camera away when a service is under way, and the hour will feel like a visit rather than a stop on a schedule.

Getting there from Rhodes on a ferry day

The easiest way to see the monastery from Rhodes is a ferry day that stops there first. The trip this page recommends is run by Manos Going on the ferry Nikolaos X, a boat for 420 passengers on 3 decks with a snack bar. You meet at 8:30 at Mandraki port, by the fountain outside the Church of the Annunciation.

The ferry sails for 75 minutes to Panormitis and gives you 1 hour at the monastery, then cruises for an hour along the west coast to the harbor town, where you have 3.5 hours before the 75-minute run back. On Saturdays in summer an extra swim stop of 20 minutes is added at Nimborio Bay, weather permitting.

The trip lasts 9 hours, is rated 4.53 from 1,872 reviews and starts from $52. Canceling is free until 24 hours ahead, payment can wait until later, and pickup is available. Note that this ferry day has no swim stop at St George's Bay, which this site's high-speed boat includes instead.

Other ways to reach Panormitis

If you are already on the island, the road is the simplest way from Symi to Panormitis. A bus excursion leaves from the Symi Tours office in Gialos, with pickup also at the bus stop in Horio: 45 minutes by bus, 1 hour at the monastery and a 10-minute photo stop above Ano Symi on the way back. It takes 2.5 hours and starts from $12.

The island also has a public bus called Panormitis that runs from Symi to the monastery and back, and you can come by caique from Gialos.³¹ ² From Rhodes, Dodekanisos Seaways lists Panormitis of Symi as a stop in its network, and it sells low-fare day trips to Panormitis on the ferry Panagia Skiadeni for a limited number of seats on specific dates.³² ¹⁰

A speedboat day combines both. One listing crosses from Rhodes to Symi town and takes you to the monastery by bus, with a snack box included, over 7.5 hours from $47. Compare the times at each stop before you choose; an hour at the monastery is enough for the church and one museum, not for everything.

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