Simon Canonite – one of Jesus Christ's Apostles – came with the first Christian sermons there in the 1 st century AD. According to the Bible the angry local residents killed the righteous person with stones. Long before the monks came there with that legend the temple was built on the site of Simon burial. This temple is one of the oldest active ones in New Athos. It stands costs on the left bank of the Psyrtskhi river. The temple over the tomb of the saint was constructed during the period from the 11 th to 13 th centuries. The last reconstruction was completed in 1882. Later it became the Tskhum Episcopal Cathedra.
The church building also served the place of burial for clergymen of the Tshum diocese. One of the stones in the altar wall has the inscription in Greek about the burial procedure related to Greek period of Anakopia. The church was richly decorated by wall paintings. Today you can see the fragments of the restored ancient frescos. Every year thousands pilgrims gather in the temple to honor the memory of St. Simon Canonite on May 23rd.
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