The monastery of Taxiarches in Mandamados
In Mandamados at the Church of Taxiarches, the miracle working Saint of the island is worshipped. The first church was erected before the 18th century. The carved icon was made by a monk using mud and the blood of his fallen comrades after being miraculously saved by Saracen pirates. Taxiarches is the protector of the region and of all Lesvos. The Turkish respected him very much due to his miraculous action. In the church is kept as a national and ecclesiastic heirloom, the prelatical sackcloth of the martyr and Ecumenical Patriarch Gregorios the 5th. The church celebrates on the 3rd Sunday after Easter with a festival that includes the slaughtering of a consecrated bull whose meat is shared among the worshippers.