The dependency of the Skete of the Prophet Elias dominates the area with its many-storied buildings set on the forest slopes northwest of the Monastery, at a walking distance of about 30 minutes via an exceptionally beautiful route.
Before the middle of the 18th century, there were few cells in this area, among them being the Cell of the Prophet Elias, which was rebuilt and converted into the Skete of the same name in 1757 by St Paisios Belitskofsky, the most important figure in Slavic monasticism during that period, who translated the Φιλοκαλίας (Filokalias, a collection of writings extolling the values of a Christian life dedicated to prayer and to God), and brought its message to the Slavic people. St Paisios had taken up residence in the area of Monastery in 1746, and soon attracted a large number of monks around him, a fact which facilitated the creation of the Skete, based on the rules of the cenobitic system. Although a Regulation for the operation of the community does not exist among surviving documents, the Skete is known to have been recognized by the former Ecumenical Patriarch Serafim I, who was then in the Monastery. The increase in the number of monks in the brotherhood of Paisios led him and his followers to the decision to re-establish the 1762 Monastery of Simon Peter, which had been abandoned because of its debt. However, he had to leave the area a short time later. Finally, after a brief return visit to the Skete of Prophet Elias, he left for Blachia, where he instilled new life into the spirit of Slavic monasticism.
After his departure, the Monastery gave the Skete to Greek monks, and it was functioned as according to an idiorhythmic system. This situation remained until the Revolution of 1821, when it was abandoned. However, after the withdrawl of the Ottoman forces in 1835, the Russian monk Anikitos and 15 companions established themselves there. A period of conflicts between the Monastery and the Russian monks at the Skete followed, which was resolved in 1839, after the mediation of Constantinos Spandonos and the interpretator of the Russian Ambassador in Thessoniki, Petrosesky, by an agreement establishing the proprietary rule of the Monastery and its relationship to the Skete, a decision officially approved by the Holy Community.
The situation in the Skete changed during the last decades of the 19th century, when the Russian Dicaios Tobias managed, in the context of the wave of pan-Slavic identity rampant in the area, to annex the building complex of the Skete and to build a new, larger Cathedral. In the end, after a long period of legal battles, Tobias managed to win his case for the construction of new buildings and the induction of 310 monks and 20 apprentices into the Skete. In 1893, the foundation of a new five-story wing was laid, while in 1900, the Russian admiral Birilof and the Patriarch Joachim III laid the foundations for the new, iconic, and luxurious cathedral of the Skete. Despite the intense reactions to the plans being carried out by the Russian monks at the Skete, the words of Ger. Smyrnaky stand out: 'The result is the transformation of the Skete into a great and well-populated monastery, which is euphemistically called – and what newcomers may see as a mockery – a Skete.'
After a period of decline and renascence during the previous century, the Skete of the Prophet Elias was reorganized in May 1992, under the direction of the Elder and Justice Archimandrite Ioacheim (Karachristos), an event which signalled the start of a new period of growth and spiritual development in the Skete.
Especially interesting is the collection of traditional objects belonging to the Skete, represented by rare objects made by tools used by the monks in the past. In particular, the collection includes items from the hospital and pharmacy of the Skete, and the workshops of the carpenter, the blacksmith, the olive press, the shoemaker, the printer, and other necessities to meet the needs of daily life within the Skete.
