The skete of St. Trinity belongs to the Monastery of Great Lavra and is at the walking distance from it (approximately 3 hours). The skete was founded in the XIV century by St. Maxim.

The other name of the skete is Kafsokalyvia. There is a myth connected with the name of the skete. The founder of the monastery led a nomadic life. Willing to isolate himself from mundane life moved from kalive to kalive burning the abandoned ones and climbing higher and higher up the mountains. Hence the skete’s name Kafsokalyvia meaning “Burnt kalives”. Finally St. Maxim chose a deserted cave to live in and where he died at the age of 95.

The skete reached the peak of it’s prosperity in the beginning of the XIII century under the guidance of St. Akakios. Back then the skete consisted of 40 independent cells with some 200 monks inhabiting them. The Patriarch Iaokim III lived there.

The katholikon of the skete is dedicated to the Theotokos. The monks gather there on Saturdays, Sundays and festive days.

Nowadays the skete consists of 39 kalyves but only 17 of them are inhabited. The skete has an iconographic studio in it’s possession. The Kalive of St. Ioann the Evangelist has a cathedral with splendid wall paintings by the monk Mitrophan from the island of Chios.

The skete of St. Demetrius belongs to the Vatopaidi monastery and located in 30 minutes walking distance from it.

The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to St. Demetrius; it’s one of the oldest on the Mount Athos alongside with the katholikons of St. John the Baptist (Iveron).

It was constructed in the XII century and reconstructed in 1755.

According to the myth St. Demetrius built the katholikon and dedicated it to the Theotokos. After the Saint’s martyr death the katholikon was renamed in his honour

In 1929 the skete possessed 17 kalyves with katholikonas and 7 without. Nowadays the majority of the kalyves are in poor condition and no one lives there.

St. Demetrius skete (Lakkoskete) is a Romanian one, belongs to the monastery of St. Paul. It is believed that the skete was founded in the X century.  In the XIV century the skete belonged to the monastery of Vatopaidi and there is an evidence that the vast majority of monks inhabiting the skete were Serbs.

In the end of XIV century the skete was conveyed to the monastery of St. Paul. In 1754 the skete was abandoned and in 1760 was renewed by the monk Daniil . In the beginning of the XIII century the monks from Moldova started to inhabit the monastery.

The katholikon is dedicated to the Martyr Demetrius.

In the beginning of the XX century the skit possessed 24 kalyves but nowadays only 5 are functioning.

St. Anne's Skete (The Major Skete of St. Anne's) is one of four sketes attached to the Great Lavra Monastery. It is located near the cape of Mt Athos, near Little St. Anne's Skete. St Anne's Skete has the distinction of being the largest and oldest skete of Mt Athos and was founded to preserve the left foot of St Anne, the Mother of the Theotokos.

The skete is located among olive, lemon and orange groves, it’s the most “ascetic” place on the Holy Mountain.

The katholikon of the skete is situated at the height of 300 meters and there is a kalive on the height of 450 meters.

Monastic life here began in the XII-XIII centuries. The 1^st charter was confirmed in 1689 by the Ecumenical Patriarch Dionysius III. Until the XII century the skete had a name “Voultevir” but subsequently took a name of St. Anne after St. Anne’s chapel where the foot of St. Anne was kept.

At the walking distance (approximately half an hour) the monks founded the new Small Skete with flat-roof cells.

The kalive Kartsoneev with the stately Cathedral of St. George also belongs to the skete. The Cathedral was designed by famous Pavel Milona who dedicated all his life to the constructing on the Holy Mountain. The brotherhood was founded by the celibate priest Gavril (1876-1956).

Sts. Nifon and Gerondy  lived in the kalive of St. Eleytherios  which also belongs to the monastery. The Holy Spring in the mountains appeared there after Gerondy’s prayers. The monks used the water for clothes-washing and garden-watering and soon the spring ran dry. Gerondy saw a dream, the Theotokos telling him that the spring was given to the monks with a different purpose. After Gerondy’s pray the spring appeared again but higher than it used to be. It was a sign that the monks have to be content with the little as the Theotokos told them. This spring is considered to be saint nowadays and contains precisely as much water as the brotherhood needs.

Currently 58 kalives and 88 monks belong to the skete.