Posts in category: Εξαρτήματα 1 – Παντοκρατορος

The Monastery was founded around the second half of the 14th century in an area where six monastic houses had been built at an earlier time. With the passage of time and for various reasons – mainly because of the repeated raids by pirates – these units had declined or disappeared, or in some cases, operated as Cells. The founders of the Monastery had planned from the beginning to protect these properties by incorporating them, either through their purchase or via donation, as dependencies. The six monastic units which are recorded in a document in the archives of the Monastery from 1392 refer to the following six cells or dependencies:
1) St Auxentios. The existence of this Cell has been known since 1287, when one of its monks, Theodoulos, is mentioned in a document of the Great Lavra Monastery as being an overseer of the Agios Oros community. The unit is located northwest of the Monastery, in the place where the Cell of St. Procopios stands today.
2) St Dimitrios of Kynopodos was known as early as the year 1048, and shares a border with the monastic unit of Falakros. A written Memorandum by the Protos of Agios Oros Ioannis Tarchaniotis dating to November 1107 regulates the border between the two units. This document is the oldest surviving original document in the archives of the Monastery.
3) Ravdouchos. This was the first acquisition of the founders of the Monastery in Agios Oros. According to the 1357 chrysobull of the Emperor Ioannis V Palaiologou, the Cell of Ravdouchos, which had been totally destroyed by raids of the Ottomans, was given by the Protos Theodoros to the two brothers with the obligation for them to rebuild it. The Monastery of Ravdouchos (or Ravda) is mentioned in a document in the Vatopedinos Monastery of 998, while in the wider region a Skete had also developed, known as 'the cloister of Ravda.'
4) The Saviour. This is mentioned among the dependencies of the Monastery, and it is theorized that because of its early existence in the area, the tradition that attributes the founding of the Pantokratoros Monastery to the reign of Alexios I Komninos arose. The exact location of the unit is unknown, and it is not possible to identify it with certainty as the Monastery of Theodoros, which shares a border with the Falakros, Xulourgos, and Kunopodos monasteries, and which appears in a 1107 document as belonging to the farm of Sotiris. It is probable that the unit was located a short distance from the Monastery.
5) Fakinos. This unit is located at a distance of half an hour south of the Monastery, close to today's vineyards, at the border of the Stavronikita Monastery, and was dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. The founder of the unit was Ioannis Fakinos, who is mentioned for the first time in 985, and who served as Protos of Agios Oros from 991-996. Today, only the church with frescoes from the 17th century survive, along with the ruins of the old monastery.
6) Falakros. Falakros is located at a distance of half an hour southwest of the Monastery, at the border with the Vatopedios Monastery, and is recorded in Athonite sources from 991-1398 as the Monastery of Asomatos or Falakros. It probably received its nickname from the Abbot and likely founder, Nikiforos Falakros, who is mentioned in a 991 document from the Great Lavra Monastery. Today, the ruins of its cathedral and its tower survive. Mounted inscriptions from the year 1647/8 which mention the Abbot Jeremiah of the Pantokratoros Monastery were found in the north wall of the nave (an area which today would be the Sacristy).
In the area of Karyes, near the Koutloumousios Monastery, the Pantokratoros Monastery also has as dependencies the Cells of the Annunciation, St Nikolaou (Damaskinos), the Dormition, and the Birth of the Virgin Mary. According to Barsky, the Monastery also had as a dependency an abandoned Skete of the Dormition, most likely today's Bogoroditsa, at the border with the Vatopedios Monastery. Despite there being no document in the Monastery's archives to confirm this, this claim is supported by the existence in the Sacristy of the Monastery an undated seal of this Skete in the Slavic language. It is possible that the Skete came into the possession of the Monastery for a short period of time, and then later was restored to the St. Panteleimonos Monastery.

The dependency of the Skete of the Prophet Elias dominates the area with its many-storied buildings set on the forest slopes northwest of the Monastery, at a walking distance of about 30 minutes via an exceptionally beautiful route.
Before the middle of the 18th century, there were few cells in this area, among them being the Cell of the Prophet Elias, which was rebuilt and converted into the Skete of the same name in 1757 by St Paisios Belitskofsky, the most important figure in Slavic monasticism during that period, who translated the Φιλοκαλίας (Filokalias, a collection of writings extolling the values of a Christian life dedicated to prayer and to God), and brought its message to the Slavic people. St Paisios had taken up residence in the area of Monastery in 1746, and soon attracted a large number of monks around him, a fact which facilitated the creation of the Skete, based on the rules of the cenobitic system. Although a Regulation for the operation of the community does not exist among surviving documents, the Skete is known to have been recognized by the former Ecumenical Patriarch Serafim I, who was then in the Monastery. The increase in the number of monks in the brotherhood of Paisios led him and his followers to the decision to re-establish the 1762 Monastery of Simon Peter, which had been abandoned because of its debt. However, he had to leave the area a short time later. Finally, after a brief return visit to the Skete of Prophet Elias, he left for Blachia, where he instilled new life into the spirit of Slavic monasticism.
After his departure, the Monastery gave the Skete to Greek monks, and it was functioned as according to an idiorhythmic system. This situation remained until the Revolution of 1821, when it was abandoned. However, after the withdrawl of the Ottoman forces in 1835, the Russian monk Anikitos and 15 companions established themselves there. A period of conflicts between the Monastery and the Russian monks at the Skete followed, which was resolved in 1839, after the mediation of Constantinos Spandonos and the interpretator of the Russian Ambassador in Thessoniki, Petrosesky, by an agreement establishing the proprietary rule of the Monastery and its relationship to the Skete, a decision officially approved by the Holy Community.
The situation in the Skete changed during the last decades of the 19th century, when the Russian Dicaios Tobias managed, in the context of the wave of pan-Slavic identity rampant in the area, to annex the building complex of the Skete and to build a new, larger Cathedral. In the end, after a long period of legal battles, Tobias managed to win his case for the construction of new buildings and the induction of 310 monks and 20 apprentices into the Skete. In 1893, the foundation of a new five-story wing was laid, while in 1900, the Russian admiral Birilof and the Patriarch Joachim III laid the foundations for the new, iconic, and luxurious cathedral of the Skete. Despite the intense reactions to the plans being carried out by the Russian monks at the Skete, the words of Ger. Smyrnaky stand out: 'The result is the transformation of the Skete into a great and well-populated monastery, which is euphemistically called – and what newcomers may see as a mockery – a Skete.'
After a period of decline and renascence during the previous century, the Skete of the Prophet Elias was reorganized in May 1992, under the direction of the Elder and Justice Archimandrite Ioacheim (Karachristos), an event which signalled the start of a new period of growth and spiritual development in the Skete.
Especially interesting is the collection of traditional objects belonging to the Skete, represented by rare objects made by tools used by the monks in the past. In particular, the collection includes items from the hospital and pharmacy of the Skete, and the workshops of the carpenter, the blacksmith, the olive press, the shoemaker, the printer, and other necessities to meet the needs of daily life within the Skete.

Dependencies of the Monastery in the Kapsalas area and the wider region are the following six Cells and Kalyves:
a) Cells: 1) St. John the Theologian (Daouti), 2) St Nikolaos (Chatzouda), 3) St Nikolaos (Boulgari), 4) Transfiguration (Moutafi), 5) St Georgios (Faneromenos), 6) Axion Estin,
b) Kalyves: 1) Pafnoutios, 2) St Savvas, 3) St Mina, 4) The Holy Apostles, 5) St John the Theologian, 6) The Visitation, 7) St. Dimitrios of Russia, 8) St Nikolaos (Germanos), 9) The Annunciation (Youria), 10) St Mandilios, 11) St Tuchonos of Zantovsk, 12) St Sergios of Rantonez, 13) The Blessed One, 14) St Georgios (Livadogene), 15) Ilarionos, 16) Kokkinos, 17) St Nikolaos (Synesios), 18) Jeremiah, 19) St. Dimitrios of Thessaloniki, 20) The Birth of the Virgin Mary, 21) The Presentation of the Virgin Mary (Kyriako), 22) Dimitrios, 23) St Georgios (Thasitos), 24) St Nikolaos (Nikodimos), 25) Zosima or Gorgoepikos, 26) New Nikodimos, 27) Dormition of the Virgin Mary, 28) St Vasileios – St Theofilos, 29) Kalamida, 30) The Holy Fathers (Dalmatios), 31) Kipouros, 32) All Saints, 33) Mitrofanos, 34) Sts Anargyrioi, 35) Dramiari, 36) Panagouda-Fakinos, 37) Barella, 38) Neofytos, 39) Eustathiou (Papa-Damaskinos), 40) Tamvaki, 41) Theona, 42) Akathistos, 43) Old Tsougka, 44) The Kingdom, 45) Porfurios (of Filotheos), 46) Vitalios, 47) New Kalyvi (Kallistratos), 48) St Mitrofanous, 49) New Kalyvi (Barsanoufios), 50) New Kalyvi (Modestos), 51) Zerokalyvo.
Of the above Cells and Kalyves, those most worth remembering are:
1) The Cell Axion Estin, which is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, as confirmed by the reference to it in the Narrative written by Serafeim Thipolos, the Protos of Agios Oros in the 16th century: 'in a location of the Holy Monastery of Pantokratoros.' According to the Narrative, the Cell – located in a pit below the Russian Skete of St Andrew which is referred to as 'the pit of Adein' – was the site of a miracle: The Archangel Gabriel appeared there as a monk, where he presented and taught the resident monks the hymn the archangels sing to the Virgin Mary: 'It is truly meet to bless thee...'
2) The Cell of St John the Theologian (Daouti) is one of the oldest Cells, which is mentioned in sources from the 15th century. The nave is completely covered with frescoes, while in the entrance hall, there are scenes from the life of St John the Theologian. In the lintel of the central nave, the following inscription survives:
'O holy and blessed church of this saint, / the glorious apostle, known and respected by all, / the evangelist John the Theologian. / Εndowed by the hieromonk / the Panosiotatos ('most holy') Chrysanthos, and / Damianos, monk of the brotherhood, / and the people of Limnos. / By the hand of the hieromonk Makarios the Galatian, / and his Companions. / 1843 September ιη'
3) The Cell of St Georgios of Faneromenos receives its name from the miraculous icon of the same name which is kept today in the Monastery. The Cell was founded at the location of the ancient dwelling of St Georgios of Plakaros, which is known from the 15th century.
4) The Kalyvi of St Vasileios, which was renovated by St Theofilos the Myroblitis at the beginning of the 16th century and where, according to tradition, his former dwelling still remains buried until today. In the same area, there is the sacred spring of the saint, which began to flow in answer to his prayers. This Kalyvi is also the place where the high-ranking monk St Nikodimos the Athonite was tonsured, and according to the local tradition, St Gerasimos the Younger was as well. St Nikodimos continued his work in the same area, and particularly in the Kalyves St Mandilios, New Nikodimos, and St Nikoloas.
5) The Kalyvi of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, the old church of Kapsalas, survives until today. In the apse of the nave, there are frescoes which bear the date ΑΨ (1700).
6) A little known place of pilgrimage in the area is the sacred spring of the Kalyvi of The Birth of the Virgin Mary, which began to flow after an appearance of the Virgin Mary to a monk there.
It is worth noting that according to the archives of the Monastery, there are another 15-20 buildings in the area which have not yet been identified.

The large area northeast of Karyes, which extends to the border with the Stavronikita Monastery, belongs to the Monastery. It is known today as Kapsalas ('the burnt place'), most likely because of a fire which had destroyed the original forest in the past. More precisely, Kapsalas consists of two sections, with the first belonging to the Pantokratoros Monastery, and the other to the Stavronikita Monastery. It is literally an ideal setting for ascetics: 'the appropriate area for the practice and silence and cultivation of the mystical life in Christ … The rolling hills sparsely populated by the humble Kalyvians, the view of the endless horizon, and the spiritual ecstasy radiated [by the hills], are like sacred stages, upon which the sweat and tears of the ascetics fall; [the hills] lovingly attract the holy souls, which have 'blossomed' [due to the nurturing] virtue of the hermetic hills.'
Some sources refer to the Skete as Skete Pantokratoros, but in the past, doubts have been raised as to whether or not it ever operated as a Skete, i.e., with a cathedral where the community worship rituals for members were conducted. However, in the Life of St Nikodimos written by his monastic brother Euthymios, the statement that 'The cathedral of the Skete of Pantokratoros was established' is attributed to the Elder St Arsenio Moraiti, while Barksy, who visited the area in 1744, notes that the ascetics of Kalyvos congregated for worship in the Kalyvi of the Presentation (i.e., 'Skete of the Presentation'). On the other hand, Smyrnakis reminds us of the less likely oral tradition, 'that the ascetic community of Kapsalas formed the old Skete after the central church was built, and they say that it is the Russian Kalyvi of the Holy Apostles.' From Patriarchial Synodic records dated 31 May 1879, under Patriarch Joachim III, we are informed of a later, unsuccessful attempt of the monks in the Cell of St Vasileios to establish a Skete 'in the vicinity of that Cell'. In any case, it is a fact that during the previous century, a great many Russian, Greek and Romanian monks lived in Kapsala, evidence which Cosmas Blachos presents in the following characteristic way: 'Without a doubt, the population in Kapsala represents a microcosmic image of a well-integrated, ecumenical orthodox community.'