Almost two thousand years ago, in 95AD, in a grotto on Patmos, the beloved disciple of Jesus, St. John the Apostle had a tremendous vision of the world to come, until the end of time. His student, Prohoros, wrote down this vision by order of the Lord, and ever since, it is known as the 27th and final chapter of the Holy Bible.

The Cave of the Revelation lies between Chora and Skala and is the place where St. John had his tremendous vision of Apocalypse, which constitutes the only prophetic book of the New Testament.

 The spot around the cavern was the one initially chosen for the Monastery of St John. Upon his arrival though, Christodoulos decided to build it instead on a higher point, on its current position, making it less vulnerable to raids.
On the sacred ground of the Revelation, he decided to build a hermitage, covering the cave at its core. He started off by closing off the cave with the building of a chapel, that he named as St Anne’s after his mother, the Virgin Mary’s mother and the mother of emperor Alexios I. Komninos, who was called Anna Dalassini and was the one who advised her son to cede the island of Patmos to St. John’s Monastery.

 ONE THOUSAND YEARS LATER

Today, more than two thousand years later, the Cave remains surrounded by the whole monastery, which stands out with its white color and a few steps carved on the stone lead to the lowest level, while passing through the chapels of St. Nicholas, St. Artemios and St. Anna.

Upon entering the cavern, you are impressed by its natural positioning and instinctively tend to ponder why the Lord picked this particular place in the world to reveal His Apocalypse.
The rock formation is volcanic and rare, taking hundreds of years to cool off and it still shines at some points from the water that was trapped in it without vaporizing.

THE THREE FOLD SPLIT

To the right, there is the sacred cave and church of Saint John the Divine. In the center, between the cave and the chapel, the low rock ceiling reaches out in a clear threefold split, the sign of the Holy Trinity and also the shape that the orthodox pilgrims form with their three fingers, when making the sign of the cross, starting from their foreheads.

Looking closely at the three – part rock you will notice that it is very odd that a rock should split in three like that. There seems to be no easy explanation of the shape of the rock, reinforcing the faith that this place is special and it was indeed here that God communicated with Saint John giving him the vision of the Apocalypse.

In the back of the cave, there is a fenced off section were a niche in the rock shows were the saint laid his head to rest. To the left, if you look closely you will see a relief of a Greek cross which, according to tradition, was engraved supernaturally or by Saint John himself.

NATURAL ROCK DESK

A little higher to the right there is another niche, where the Apostle held on to the rock to raise himself up from his resting place and to lean against while dictating the words of God to his pupil Prohoros who stood next to him, on a natural rock desk that can still be seen.
Continuing right and close to the entrance, a narrow channel in the rock that is believed to have provided water to the both of them, from a spring that cannot be found to date.
There is usually a monk or some spiritual leader who will guide you through the cave awaiting you at the entrance, although it is recommended to sit on one of the stools and sink in the energy of this miraculous cave that some believe is one of the great mysteries of the world.

In the monastery complex there are also two more churches, one of St. Artemios (18th century) and St. Nicolaos, monk cells, and other facilities as would be expected in a monastery, most of which were built by Osios Christodoulos and his men in 1088.

 THE GATE OF HEAVEN

 According to historians St. John and Prohoros stayed 18 months on Patmos, and then returned to Ephesus, the place they were exiled from for preaching in the Lord’s name. There, they wrote the 4th book of the New Testament.
Outside the Cave’s main door an inscription quotes, very appropriately the famous biblical phrase of Jacob when he beheld a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending on it:

“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:10

Getting there

The Cave of the Revelation is within walking distance of Skala (1.5km) and Chora (1.6km). There is a regular bus service that leaves you close to the entrance in the middle of the main route that connects Skala and Hora . You can ask the driver to tell you when to get off, if you are not sure yourself.
From Skala you can also walk up to the Cave by either taking the main road or the shorter and more picturesque approach “the Old Path”. The same applies for walking down from Chora but in both cases be prepared for a long hike under the blazing sun.
When visiting the Monastery and all the other religious sites on the Island please try to be dressed properly: women must wear long skirts and have covered shoulders, men must wear long trousers.

Area: Between SKALA and CHORA
Visiting Hours:
DAILY FROM 08:00-13:00 AND 14:00-16:00 ON SUNDAYS, TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS.
Contact: ΤΕL- (+30) 22470 31276

(7 min. drive from Patmos Villa Sophia)