The monastery lies in a paltean, a little above the monastery of Karakallou about 2.5 hrs from Karyes and is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin. The Katholicon is built shortly before the mid 18th c. and decorated with frescoes after the mid 18th c. The monastery has eight chapels and 13 kellia, one of them at Karyes.

The monastery was founded in the last quarter of the 10th c. but only in the end of the 11th c. takes the form of a monastery. In the end of 13th and 14th c. the monastery receives financial aid by the emperors of Byzantium and the Serbian rulers. After the fall of the empire, the monastery is financially supported by the rulers of eastern Europe. In 1871, the monastery with the exception of the Katholikon, the Refectory and the library, is burnt to the ground.

The monastery owns many heirlooms, holy relics and above all the miraculous icon of the Virgin Glykophilousa. The library contains 250 manuscripts and many books.

The monastery is inhabited by a brotherhood of 50 monks.