He was a monk at the Monastery of Great Lavra who spent much of his life as a hermit at the southern tip of the Athos Peninsula.
[1] He was born Nikolaos Terzakis (Greek: Νικόλαος Τερζάκης) around 1601 in a village called Agios Petros of Kynouria in Morea (Peloponnese), Greece.
[3] After the death of Macarius, Nilus settled in a cave on a steep cliff overlooking the sea, at the southern tip of the Athos Peninsula.
[4] Today, this area of Mount Athos, located about halfway between Katounakia and the Skete of Podromos, is called Agios Nilos, named in honor of St. Nilus.
Today, the Holy Cave of Agios Nilos (Greek: Ιερό Σπήλαιο Αγίου Νείλου) can be visited by pilgrims to Mount Athos.