David the Elder of Evia (Euboea) was a Greek monk, priest, and founder of the monastery on the island of Euboea that bears his name. He lived during the early Ottoman period and is venerated as a wonderworker. The synaxarion places his birth in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century at Gardinitsa, a village in the region of Locris (Phthiotis) on the mainland opposite Euboea, and his repose in 1589, though some sources give the year as 1601. He is commemorated on November 1.
By tradition David was the son of a priest and was drawn to the monastic life from childhood. He left home around the age of fifteen and placed himself under the hieromonk Akakios as his spiritual father, was tonsured a monk, and was in time ordained deacon and priest. His formation included travel to monastic centers, among them Mount Athos and its Great Lavra, and service in ecclesiastical settings connected with the dioceses of Nafpaktos and Arta. He served as abbot of the Monastery of the Theotokos at Varnakova, near Nafpaktos, before withdrawing to northern Euboea.
Settling at Drymonas, near the village of Rovies, David rebuilt a small church dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Savior and gathered disciples around him, establishing the monastery that came to be known by his name. He is remembered as one of the teachers who supported the education of the Greek population under Ottoman rule. Numerous miracles and healings are attributed to him both during his life and at his grave, and his relics — including his skull — are kept and venerated at the monastery.
