By Kostas Karamesinis
When I heard about the chapel of Elder Paisios in Maistros of Alexandroupolis, immediately I had the desire to visit at the first opportunity.
Yesterday, therefore, when for business reasons I was in Alexandroupolis, I seized the opportunity and went to Maistros. I was fortunate to know the man who built the chapel and he was there, willing to guide me and provide for me information relating to Elder Paisios and his chapel.
Maistros is on the way from Alexandroupolis to the airport, in an area where you see nothing but trees and a river between them. In such a richness of nature is the chapel of Elder Paisios built.
It is a gem inside and out, its frescoes, its icons, everything is so carefully and reverently placed to understand that they were made with great love and care. The exterior is enhanced by the summer hospice which is a replica of the cell in which Elder Paisios lived in Panagouda of Mount Athos.
My friend Anestis, who built the chapel, gave me a lot of information about the Elder. He met him in 1987, being still a student, and since that day was visiting Panagouda every weekend to listen to the so many interesting things that he had to say. I realized that this was the reason the chapel was built with such perfection, and why my friend has in his house a little further away from the chapel a guest house and many relics of Elder Paisios. He even gave me ten books edited by him and containing excerpts from the discussions he had with the Elder in Panagouda.
My visit to Maistros lasted about two hours, but to me it seemed much more. I felt so fulfilled in a place that was built in honor and in memory of Elder Paisios. I believe that you would feel this if you find yourself in the same place.
For information about the chapel, contact Anestis Mavrokefalos: tel. 6955319555.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
