….as I have placed all my hopes with you, oh mother, who is blameless and a spring of mercy, I, the shepherd monk Manuil, your servant , dedicate this temple to you, Bishopress...

A bout 10 kilometers in the northwest of Strumica, in the upper part of the village Veljusa, the monastery church of the Holy Virgin Eleussa(Tenderness) is located and has subsisted there for centuries.Historical data about the construction of the church and its benefactor, the monk Manuil, can also be found in the Typicon which was written by him personally in the period between 1085 and 1106.Authentic data about the history of the monastery church can be obtained from the texts inscribed on the two preserved marble tables: the contents of the text on the tables placed on the door-head at the entrance to the nartex is historical, while that on the second table placed on the door-head at the entrance of the church is religious.

The fist inscription, written in Greek, reads as follows: “ This temple founded by Manuil the monk, who became a bishop of Tiveriopol in the year 6588 (1080) Indiction3 “

During the World War I, these two tables had been pulled out from their places by the Bulgarian authorities and taken to Sofia's museum, where they have been housed till present days. Marble copies of the originals have been made and placed on the positions of the original tables. There are no data available about the history of the church for a period of almost 5 centuries, from the XIV till XIX century. There are also no data about the monastery complex during the medieval times. But according to the limited historical sources and the material remaining, it ca be concluded that, within the scope of the monastery the complex , besides the monastery church there had been two floor monastery lodging houses with belvederes, a refectory, monk cells within the lodging houses, and economic buildings. Nothing of this, has remained to the present date, with the exception of the renovated lodging houses on the northern side of the monastery complex. The base of the church is a four apsidal type with an octagonal dome, which makes it very rare building of this type in Macedonia. It was built in 1080 along with the nartex and the southern paraclis. The preserved frescoes in the church date from two time periods. The first period is the XI century, when the church was built, and includes the fresco-paintings in the sanctuary, the composition “The Visitation of the Virgin” in the western apsidal, and the composition “ The Descents in Hell”. The frescos of the prophets of the Old Testament in the dome tambour of the Holy Virgin Orantha, ST John the Forerunner, and the two Archangels on the eastern side date form the same period. Also from the XI century, there are frescoes preserved in the southern paraclis , more significant of which are the ones depicting the figures of St Panteleimon, St Niphon and Christ Emanuil. The second period includes frescoes dating from the XII century. In the church there is also a marble iconostasis preservedt in its authentic state, as well as, fragments of the mosaic decorations on the floor.

In present days this monastery is active female monastery with rebuilt domes. For the sisterhood living there and for the guests visiting.