The monastery's decline began only after the destruction of Chios by the Ottomans in April 1822, during the Greek War of Independence. 2,000 people had sought refuge in the monastery, but the Ottomans stormed it, slaughtered many, and set fire to the templon and other wooden furnishings of the church, including the roof, leaving the rest of the refugees to burn there. The monastery never recovered its former glory.