The large area northeast of Karyes, which extends to the border with the Stavronikita Monastery, belongs to the Monastery. It is known today as Kapsalas ('the burnt place'), most likely because of a fire which had destroyed the original forest in the past. More precisely, Kapsalas consists of two sections, with the first belonging to the Pantokratoros Monastery, and the other to the Stavronikita Monastery. It is literally an ideal setting for ascetics: 'the appropriate area for the practice and silence and cultivation of the mystical life in Christ … The rolling hills sparsely populated by the humble Kalyvians, the view of the endless horizon, and the spiritual ecstasy radiated [by the hills], are like sacred stages, upon which the sweat and tears of the ascetics fall; [the hills] lovingly attract the holy souls, which have 'blossomed' [due to the nurturing] virtue of the hermetic hills.'
Some sources refer to the Skete as Skete Pantokratoros, but in the past, doubts have been raised as to whether or not it ever operated as a Skete, i.e., with a cathedral where the community worship rituals for members were conducted. However, in the Life of St Nikodimos written by his monastic brother Euthymios, the statement that 'The cathedral of the Skete of Pantokratoros was established' is attributed to the Elder St Arsenio Moraiti, while Barksy, who visited the area in 1744, notes that the ascetics of Kalyvos congregated for worship in the Kalyvi of the Presentation (i.e., 'Skete of the Presentation'). On the other hand, Smyrnakis reminds us of the less likely oral tradition, 'that the ascetic community of Kapsalas formed the old Skete after the central church was built, and they say that it is the Russian Kalyvi of the Holy Apostles.' From Patriarchial Synodic records dated 31 May 1879, under Patriarch Joachim III, we are informed of a later, unsuccessful attempt of the monks in the Cell of St Vasileios to establish a Skete 'in the vicinity of that Cell'. In any case, it is a fact that during the previous century, a great many Russian, Greek and Romanian monks lived in Kapsala, evidence which Cosmas Blachos presents in the following characteristic way: 'Without a doubt, the population in Kapsala represents a microcosmic image of a well-integrated, ecumenical orthodox community.'
