t a 5km distance southward from Soufli, the village Kornofolia is located, one of the most historical ones of the County. Heading west of the village, we meet the Historic Monastery of Panagia the Portaitissa. It is the oldest monastery of the County of Evros, dependency of the Monastery of Ibira of the Agion Oros of Athos. Ibirian Fathers enriched their monastery dependence with the icon of Panagia Portaitissa and the Holly Corps (right foot of Saint Haralambos).
The Grace of the miracles of the Holly Icon and the holly Corps, have made the Monastery an attraction for the believers of the wider area of Thraka, and quickly rendered it as their religious and national center. Its abbots became the main animating spirits - incarnates of its function as a place for meetings, fraternization and unity, to preserve the national consciousness and achieve the higher aim of freedom. In the Monastery, a secret school used to function, organized by the monks. Fathers of the Monastery, such as : abbot Porfyrios and monk Neofytos became examples of sacrifice to the altar of faith and homeland. After many years of abandonment, the formely men’s monastery was turned into a women’s during the decade of 1980, by the Archimandrite Dorotheos from Agion Oros, who staffed it with nuns. The sudden death of Dorotheos generated spiritual insecurity to the fraternity which was immediately stabilized with abbess Isidora and the meanwhile conversion of the Monastery of Iviria into a cenobitic Monastery. The facilities of the Monastery were expanded and spruced up. anagia the Portaitissa has a major impact on the area of central Evros and a perfect spiritual refreshment to its residents. It hosts visitors and shows the old fretwork temple and the miraculous icon of Panagia. Apart from the Holly Corps of Saint Haralambos, inside the Monastery the corpses of Saint Panteleimonas, Tryfonas, Stefanos, Nektarios, Paraskevis, Jacob, Adelfotheos and other Saints’ are also been storaged. Nowadays, the nuns exercise the beggaries of holly tailoring and weaving of canonicals as well as hagiography. The festival of the Monastery is held on August 23rd, at the ninth day after the Assumption and the telephone numbers of the Monastery are .