The Monastery of the Kathara, pilgrimage and reference point for all inhabitants of Ithaca, is built on the south-eastern peak of the Homeric Mount Nirito in a nice corner, 600m from the sea and 15 km. from Vathy. The history of the monastery begins in 1696.
The history of the image of the Virgin is even older, as reported by Father Theodosius Dendrinos in the second edition of his book 'The Monastery of Our Lady of Kathara, Ithaca'. In local dialect the name “Kathara” means the twigs and small shrubs which are cut and burned to clear some place.