After racking up large debts financing a knitting business, an order of 55 Greek nuns has left their convent for a nearby monastery.

The Greek Holy Synod is currently looking through the order's financial records. The sisters of the Saints Kirikos and Iouliti monastery are believed to have accumulated debts of 600,000 euros, or approximately 916,000 Cdn.

The nuns had a loyal clientele, selling their garments to 25 retailers around Greece. While it's unclear what caused the financial disarray, some speculate that the order spent more than it could afford on six industrial knitting machines. The women took the machines with them when they fled.

Greece's Kathimerini newspaper, meanwhile, suggested the order was plunged into debt after attending foreign fashion shows to check out the newest in knitwear. The nuns are said to have then mortgaged their monastery to cover their rising costs.

"We have not been asked to intervene yet, but we are following the case closely," a police official told the news agency Reuters.