The convent is located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) east of Karya,[2] on the road connecting it with Leptokarya, above the river Ziliana.

The name of the monastery refers to four wild brooks in the vicinity, called kanalia (κανάλια, "channels"), which combined to form the Ziliana river.

[1] According to tradition, the monastery was founded in 1055 by the monks Damian and Joachim, who dedicated it to the birth of the Holy Mother of God (Theotokos).

[1] The 19th-century French traveller Léon Heuzey, on the other hand, dated the foundation of the monastery to the ninth century.

[1] As of July 2017[update], the renovation work has been largely completed and the paintings in the chapel of Saint Demetrios are to be restored.