Dedicated to the Birth of the Virgin, the New Skete is located near the sea, on an inclined slope at the northeastern side of the peninsula. The distance from the Monastery is not more than 30 minutes. There are some confusing statements that in the 10th century, the skete was built at a higher location and bore the name of Benediktos or Stavros, with its central church being located at the site of the present-day kalyvi of the Sts Anargyrion. In the 2nd half of the 11th century, the skete was moved towards the sea, and its church was built on the site of the present-day kalyvi of the Presentation of Christ. During that period, under Anthimos Komninos, the fortified tower which houses the chapel of St Anna operated up until 1950.
A 1709 edict of the Patriarch Kyprianos refers to it as the New Skete, even though it was not officially inaugurated until 1753, when a permit was issued by the Monastery. However, the skete was known as the Tower Skete, as it is referred to in documents from 1756 and in copies of documents of 1814. Finally, in 1819, it was renamed as the New Skete or the Skete of the Virgin Mary. The above information comes from documents in the central church. In 1819, the New Skete, in an edict of the Patriarch Gregory V, was transferred to the Monastery of St Pavlos. The present-day form of the skete dates from 1850 and later.
The central church of the skete is dedicated to the Birth of the Virgin. Its construction was begun in 1730 and completed in 1757, with donations from the residents of Ioannina. It has a central nave and an outer nave, and its interior is decorated with frescoes. It also has a sculpted wooden altar. In 1901, the chapel of St Konstantine was built within the central church, where the Archpriests Theofanis of Lakedaimona, Vessarian of Rapsani, and Gerasimos Chalepios are entombed. In the courtyard of the central church is the cemetery church of All Saints, and the ossuary is nearby.
In the Library of the central church there are 19th century copies of manuscripts by the well-known scribe and scholar the monk Iakovos, as well as printed books. The sacristy houses a collection of icons, vestments, crosses, medallions, staffs, and sacred relics of saints.
The New Skete has about 30 kalyvia, most of which have a small church and a small extent of land; about 60 monks reside there. The monks engage in activities such as icon painting – with the most important artists being Kyrillaios, Abramaios, and the monks Spyridonaios – woodcarving, goldworking, and agricultural work, mainly the cultivation of citrus orchards.
Important saints and ascetics who resided in the skete were the Holy Martyr Pachomios from N. Epirus, the Elder Iosef the Ascetic, St Hilarion the New of Iviron, and from the circle of the Kollyvades, St Nikodimos the Athonite, Kyrillos the Philosopher, Athanasios of Messolonghi, and others.
