Giannitsa, Greece, October 20, 2026
Photo: protothema.gr
A 58-year-old Greek Orthodox monk who set out for Turkey to live as a hermit has been missing for nearly three months, and his family still doesn’t know whether he’s alive.
Monk Joseph, born Nikolaos Tsigozis, left his family’s home in Neos Mylotopos, near Giannitsa, on July 23 without telling anyone where he was going. He hasn’t contacted his relatives since, reports Thema.
His sisters say the trip wasn’t a sudden impulse. Evangelia says he wanted to visit Pontus and Cappadocia, regions tied to the family’s roots. “He had a burning desire to go to Pontus. He used to say that he wanted to become a hermit,” she said on the program.
According to Evangelia, Joseph was on Mount Athos in 2003 and later moved to Agia Triada in Lagkadas. He followed his abbot to Elassona and took monastic vows there, receiving the name Joseph. When the monastery was left without an abbot, he stayed at the family home while preparing to move to another one.
Another sister, Eftychia, who lives in Thessaloniki, started searching as soon as she learned he’d gone. She reported his disappearance to the police and checked the railway station, where a travel agency had issued a ticket in his name. The family later confirmed that he boarded a bus to Turkey.
Their brother in Canada then called the Greek Consulate in Constantinople. Eftychia says the family was told that a man not wearing monastic robes arrived by taxi and asked how to get to Trabzon. She says consular staff checked his passport and pointed him toward the intercity bus station.
The family has notified Interpol and the Greek Consulate in Turkey. Evangelia says they believe the search should focus on Constantinople, Trabzon, and other parts of Pontus, though they haven’t ruled out Cappadocia. No one knows which route he took or whether he’s joined a monastic community.
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