What monastery has cats on duty? Here’s the story of St. Nicholas of the Cats on the island of Cyprus
The monastery of Agios(Saint) Nikolaos is one of the 2 oldest monasteries in Cyprus. It was founded in the 4th century by Kalokairos, the first Byzantine ruler of Cyprus, under the instructions of Agios Konstantinos and Agia Eleni.
The monastery was inhabited by monks until the 15th century when it was destroyed by an earthquake.
It was restored in the 16th century and operated until 1570 when its monks were slaughtered by the Ottoman invasion. In the 18th century, it was restored and operated by monks again.
From 1983 until today it is inhabited by nuns.
The monastery is known as Agios Nikolaos of cats because according to the tradition of Cyprus Agia Eleni brought hundreds of cats to Cyprus after her return from the search for the Holy Cross in order to control the population of poisonous snakes.
The monks called the cats to eat and hunt the snakes in the fields with the sound of a beacon.
This custom spread to the other monasteries in Cyprus and Rhodes, and even today many cats roam the monastery and are cared for by nuns.
