admin – Σελίδα 10 – Proskinitaria Athos

The building of the Monastery's library.

The Library

The library is housed in a specifically-designed space in the south wing of the new enclosure. Although the bulk of the Monastery's collection was unfortunately lost over the centuries, it still includes about 550 manuscripts, including three parchment liturgical scrolls. The number of music manuscripts is particularly significant. Some of the modern music manuscripts, mainly liturgical services, are not yet known to the general public because they are still unpublished. There are about 15,000 printed books, as well as one of the largest collections of old prints on Mt Athos.

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The New Synodikon

The Museum

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The building of the 'Synodikon' (conference hall).

The New Synodikon

The 'Synodikon' (conference hall) is a building where the monastic fraternity gathers to discuss spiritual or administrative matters. The new conference hall, recently reconstructed, is located to the north of the old cathedral. It is a good example of modern restoration of historical architecture with traditional materials. Three marble columns support the arches of the balcony, which is enclosed with perforated screens. Three ceramic discs in the colors of marble and clay enrich the decoration of the face of the building. The style and decoration resemble a simple version of a Byzantine palace.

The balcony of the 'Synodikon' (conference hall).

The building of the 'Synodikon' (conference hall) and the new Cathedral at the north side.

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The New Cathedral

The Library

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The New Cathedral

The new cathedral, also dedicated to St Georgios, was completed in the 1830s. It is the largest cathedral on Mount Athos. The marble icon screen was constructed, together with the religious throne and the altar ciborium, from 1845 to 1847 by sculptors from the island of Tinos, an island which still has a high reputation for its school of sculpture. Some of the marble came from Tinos, while others came from the local quarries of Kausokalyvia on Athos. The frescoes are recent works of the well-known workshop at the Monastery. The new cathedral hosts the miraculous 14th-century icon of the Panagia Hodigitria ('The Virgin Mary, The Leader or Guide'), which came to the Monastery from Vatopedi Monastery in a wondrous way in 1730.

The new Cathedral with the fountain of the holy water.

The entrance of the new Cathedral, leading to the outer hall.

Looking from the right, is the Despotic throne, the Abbot's throne and the seats of the chanters.

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The Refectory

The New Synodikon

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The Refectory

The refectory, the place that is usually located near the cathedral in every monastery, is situated directly behind the old cathedral, opposite to its entrance. There the fraternity gathers twice a day for the common meal between the services. The figures in the frescoes, which date to 1496/7, surround the monks, and connect the monastics of the past with those of the present. The frescoes in the Xenofontos Monastery refrectory are the oldest preserved refectory decoration on Mount Athos.

The Abbot's table where the official guests during the official days are seated.

The tables used by the brothers of the Monastery and the pilgrims. In the center, the reader's stand is visible.

The old Cathedral and the refectory building, interconnected with an interior corridor.

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The Chapel Of St Demetrios

The New Cathedral

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View from inside of St Demetrios chapel.

The Chapel Of
St Demetrios

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The Old Cathedral

The Refectory

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The Old Cathedral

The old cathedral had been at the core of the spiritual life at the Monastery for over eight centuries. Groups of holy figures share the space with the faithful, painted on walls in 1544 by the painter Antonios. The frescoes express an artistic style different from that of Theophanis of Crete and Frangos Katelanos, the two masters who dominated the religious painting of the Balkans in the 16th century. The art of the painter Antonios, with daring contrasts of light and shadow, is closely related within Athos to the frescoes of the Chapel of St Georgios in the Monastery of St Paul.

The old Cathedral, north view, with considerably less openings.

Frescoes in the old Cathedral, works of painter Antonios, 1544.

The ivory pendant of the psalm in the old Cathedral.

Fresco of St Georgios in the old Cathedral.

Fresco of St Demetrios in the old Cathedral.

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The Entrance

The Chapel Of St Demetrios

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The Entrance

While walking along the coast towards the Monastery's entrance gate, the visitor first sees the oldest parts of the building complex. He passes beneath the sea walls, where the guest house that will welcome him is located. Today, visitors enter the Monastery through a helical passage at the southwest corner of the walls. Its shape is defined by the two tower-like buildings which border it: The so-called St Stephen's tower at the inner end of the passage, and the Holy Apostles tower at the outer. The latter tower is dated to 1661/2.

Looking upwards while at the entracne hall.

Walking through the entrance hall (3). The interior of the Monastery can be observec from here.

The old walls and the balcony of the guesthouse.

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In Times Of Crisis

The Old Cathedral

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Crises never lead to deadlocks in a vibrant brotherhood.

In Times Of Crisis

With so many historical events having occured during its centuries of existence, the monastery has experienced countless difficulties, including fires, persecutions, and economic problems, but has never despaired. In 1976, the Elder Alexios and his companions left the monastery of the Great Meteor and took up residence at Xenofontos. This began a new era in the history of the monastery: The buildings were restored with care, and the size of the active monastic community has been constantly developing ever since. Today, the Xenofontos monastery, along with its dependencies, has about 50-55 monks.

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Structures

The Entrance

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The Holy Monastery of Xenophon. Model at the Museum of the Monastery based on Barsky's design.

Structures

For centuries, the building complex was much smaller than it is today. It expanded to the northwest only at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries, with the addition of the new cathedral and new wings. The monastery is clearly depicted before the extension in the drawing made in 1744 by the Russian monk and traveler Vasili Barsky. The north wing just behind the old cathedral as well as an intermediate wing in the south, where today the steps of the southern courtyard are found, were demolished in the expansion works that lasted from 1799 until the completion of the new cathedral in the 1830s. Barsky's drawing also shows 'the fortification around the monastery', which Symeon, the second founder, 'developed' in 1078. This consisted of the creation of a courtyard around the cathedral, which was protected on the west and south by the second line of walls, still partially preserved today.

The Holy Monastery of Xenophontos, drawn by the Russian traveller Barski, 1744.

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Age

In Times Of Crisis

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Proof of the Cross, the millennial presence of the monks.

Age

Rarely in Greek history can one find an institution that has been functioning for more than a thousand years: The Xenofontos monastery is mentioned for the first time in a document of the year 998, signed by the founder, Xenofontos, as 'monk and abbot of the Monastery of St Georgios'. It is one of the earliest cenobitic monasteries on Mt Athos, founded at the time of St Athanasios of Athos. A large collection of documents, inscriptions, manuscripts, and relics, as well as tradition and oral history, support the memory and history of this long life. The millennial age of the monastery, which was appropriately celebrated in 1998, makes it a unique repository for collective memory.

A building outside of the Monastery's walls.

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Access

Structures

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