On the rocks, west of the plain of LeonidioN, and 6 km from it, «hangs» the Monastery of Sinza dedicated to Aghios Nikolaos. We do not know when it was founded. However, it is mentioned in a patriarchal document of 1622 signed by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophanes. According to scholars, the monastery was founded between 1200 and 1300.
The monastery is built on rocks.
From the church of Aghios Nikolaos the view of the plain of Leonidion is magnificent. The library contains some handwritten Gospels with decorative letters and motifs.
According to tradition, princess of Thebes Ino, sister of Semeli, mother of Dionysus, had raised her nephew Dionysus - the god of wine, figs and nuts - in the cave of Sintza.
The dominant theory about the origins of its name, Sitza or Sintza, is that it comes from the word «sykia» (meaning «fig tree»). The cave of Sintza was inhabited for the first time during the ealry Neolithic Age, which has been proven by the discovery of fragments of pots, cups, kraters (a kind of urn), and silver daggers within the cave's interior.
The monastery houses a library with hand-written Gospels and old editions of texts. It was also the keeping place of the holy remains of the saints Nikolaos, Trifon, Paraskevi, Panteleimon, and Dionisios for some time. The icons that are exhibited around the rooms of the monastery are dated back to the 16th and 17th century. To the outside of the building complex of the coven, there is a water spring, and a roman tomb carved onto the rock beside that. It was changed from a men's monastery to that of women in 1953. The monastery celebrates Aghios Nikolaos on the 8th and 9th of May of every year, as well as Aghios Dionysios every 3rd of October.