Monthly Archives: Μάιος 2020

The sacristy is located in the north wing and was inaugurated during the celebration of the thousand-year anniversary of the Monastery in 1998. It is the place where sacred artifacts which the Monastery has acquired over the course of its history are classified according to type and displayed in cases in a way that pilgrims can easily admire and praise the Beneficent Lord.

The interior of the refectory is covered with frescoes dating to the year 1496/7, according to a relevant inscription, while in some places, there are later layers and over-paintings. When the original frescoes were made, the present-day wooden roof had already been constructed. This places the date of the roof at the end of the 15th century, making it a rare, reliably-dated example of wooden roofing, which has preserved the construction characteristics of the era. Most of it remains in good condition, although some repairs had been made in the 17th-19th centuries but were replaced in the 1970s decade.

Because it was integrated between two pre-existing walls, the refectory has a trapezoidal plan. Light enters the space through a series of five double windows in the west wall. All of the double windows have frames of marble columns and capitals, most of which had been previously used in other structures.
The space is covered by a wooden roof; a few decades ago, an ornate ceiling was installed to replace one which was older and had a simpler design.

According to the standard monastic organizational plan – including the attendance of monks at meals in the context of their daily routine – the refectory of the Monastery is physically connected with the old cathedral, and it is entered is via the staircase which starts at the outer nave of the cathedral. The refectory occupies the upper level of a structure which was completed at the end of the 15th century.
In the area below the refectory are the storage rooms of the Monastery, while the stables were at the ground-level section. In that earlier day, the kitchen had been built immediately north of the refectory; it had a classic square plan, was dome-covered, with the hearth in the center, and a central chimney.

In an Athonite monastery, the refectory is the building in which the monks gather together at a specific time for their meals. The food served depends on the ecclesiastical period, and is significantly different during the days of fasting. In fact, on fast days, the monks gather in the refectory only once.
Even the hour of meals is a holy moment, when the mind of the monks should not be distracted with inappropriate thoughts. For this reason, during the meal, one of the monks reads an instructive text aloud, usually a patristic text.
Because the refectory is also the place used for the special meals and particular rituals of the major holidays and celebrations of the Monastery, the building is usually elaborately decorated.

The tower of the Holy Apostles is a unique structure which was added in 1661/1 between the wall and the exterior gate of the Monastery, likely for the purpose of providing a place at its top for the chapel of the same name. The entire volume of the building is supported by pillars. An outer gateway was later added, probably in the 17th century.

In the late-Byzantine period, the entrance to the Monastery was relocated to the position it occupies today. It is likely that the ground-level section of the tower of St Stefanos was built at the end of the 15th century.
In total, the tower has three levels, with wooden floors and a wooden roof, but the height of the ground-level section is much higher, equivalent to about two storeys. In that section, there were two gates, each with doors, so that to enter the Monastery, one had to pass through three successive gates. The chapel of St Stefanos is located on the third floor of the tower.

The original Byzantine design of the perimeter of the Xenofontos Monastery does not seem to have had a large, fortified tower corresponding to other well-known Athonite examples. The walls which surround the Monastery were simple, and there was only one small tower at the southeast corner of the exterior perimeter, which protected the then-entrance to the Monastery by threatening (from opposite the entrance) the backs of the invaders.
Today, there are two tower-like structures which dominate the entrance to the Monastery. These structures, where were built in later times, are considered to be the ‘towers’ of the Monastery: The interior structure is the tower of St Stefanos, and the exterior is the tower of the Holy Apostles. The tower of St Stefanos is the taller of the two.

The new cathedral of the Monastery, which has an imposing majesty, is the biggest cathedral on Mt Athos today. It dominates the northwest courtyard area, toward which the Monastery has expanded. It has been dated to the 19th century, although its construction had been systematically undertaken since the catastrophic fire of 1817. However, the construction work was interrupted a bit later because of the unstable conditions created on Mt Athos by the Revolution of 1821, and were continued after 1830.
The new cathedral is also dedicated to St Georgios, and follows the Athonite-type architectural plan.

The central church is known as the cathedral, where the night-and-day worship of God takes place. The older of the Monastery’s cathedrals is smaller and dedicated to the patron saint of the Monastery, St Georgios, and occupies the central space in the old Monastery. It is truly a monument to art, and is dated from the end of the 10th century to the beginning of the 11th.
Many elements from this early period have survived – such as the old marble icon screen – while many changes have been made. Among these are the additions of a chapel dedicated to St Lazarus in about 1400, and that of the entrance nave and the side apses in the beginning of the 16th century.