Monthly Archives: Μάιος 2020

In the courtyard area, outside of the new cathedral and a short distance from its north side, the holy water font of the monastery is found. It is built from red Chian marble, and is dated to the era of the Monastery’s founding, even though the year 1901 was added to its eight-pillar dome.

In 1923, the well-known writer Fotis Kontoglou visited Mt Athos for the first time, where he spent two months. Several other visits would follow. He writes:
'I walked to the monastery of Karakallos. There I had some great time; the fathers treated me as one of their own. This monastery is a cenobium, and the abbot then was a holy man, his name was Kordatos; a quiet elder, peaceful, a true shepherd, he was born in Alatsata. The port house was ceremonious, a Byzantine tower built on a rock. I stayed there too for several days.'
(This description would apply to the current Abbot of the Monastery, Archimandrite Philotheos, as well.)
While a guest in the Karakallos Monastery, Kontoglou comments:
'I am sitting in the window of my cell. Time to be in peace. My eye goes down to the sea, which is not further than a gunshot. Between two shadowy green hills, I see the waves bursting out, with white foams and heavy roar, at the edge of the ravine. Further to the right, a downy bump hides up to the middle the tower of the port house. I see only its upper part, and its ramparts make me find myself in years old ... '

The new cathedral of the Monastery was recently completed with the addition of new chairs (stasidia), wood-carved shrines, candle stands, psalter holders, goldwork- embroidered objects, liturgical vessels, and most importantly, with the painting of frescoes by fathers of the Monastery.

The elaborately-decorated marble icon screen stands out in the interior of the cathedral. It was made, along with the Abbot’s throne and the canopy above the altar, from 1845 to 1847 by marble sculptors from Tinos, with marble brought from the quarry of Kavsokalybios on the island. In his book about Mt Athos, Kosmos Blachos examines the construction and artistic quality of the icon screen, and concludes that ‘because of its magnificent simplicity, it is incomparable.’

The situation after the ignition of the Greek revolution and the failure of the rebellion in Macedonia in 1821 influenced the Monastery of Karakallou as well as the whole of Mount Athos. Turkish troops settled in every Monastery and demanded the cost for their living. Extra taxes were imposed and regular taxes doubled. The metochia of Halkidiki suffered heavy damages, the debts swelled and a large number of monks left Mount Athos. Between 1823-1830, less than 1,000 monks remained in Mount Athos. For a period of five years the Monastery suffered damages to its metochia in Halkidiki and Strymon. After the retreat of the Turkish troops in 1830, communication with the metochia was restored, the economic situation gradually improved and the number of monks began to increase. As is known, in 1854 the abbot of the monastery Damaskinos of Karakallou, donated to the chieftain Tsamis Karatasos a nice horse, an act that eventually caused him to lose his authority and to leave the Monastery.

Among the artefacts of the Monastery, the 12th-century icon of the Theotokou Odigitrias (The Mother of God, the Guide), and another icon, a depiction of the Transfiguration made from steatite (soapstone) and dated to the 13th century, are of particular interest. These icons are found in the sacristy of the Monastery, and can be viewed by visitors.

Since the 16th century, the Monastery, like many others, had functioned as an idiorhythmic community. In July 1813, a declaration by its Great Assembly announced the decision of the Karakallos Monastery to readopt the cenobitic system of monastic life, with the hieromonk Nektarios from the Ascension cell as the new Abbot. The transition to the cenobitic mode was consolidated by the patriarch Kyrillos VI's sigillion issued in the same year.

Within the area of the holy altar of the new cathedral, in the central apse, is the miraculous icon of The Virgin Mary, Full of Grace, dated to the 13th century and known for its artistic excellence and its original expression.