PAOS MONASTERY

Dedicated to Saint Nicholas, this former ^18th-century Greek Orthodox monastery (Ιερά Μονή Αγίου Νικολάου Πάου/Iera Moni Agiou Nikolaou Paou) is now the worship and conference center of the Volos-based University of Thessaly. Located in a place called Paos (Pau in English), above a small beach, it welcomes university and school groups and, in August, a musical festival based around the guitar. The church retains some of the frescoes painted around 1732. And the university produces some excellent olive oil here.