Posts in category: Ο Χώρος της Μοναστικής Αδελφότητας 1 – Ξενοφώντος

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.

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.

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.

The visitor can reach the Monastery by boat, by walking along the coast from one of the two neighboring monasteries, or by following one of the trails that descend the verdant slope from the interior where Karyes, the administrative center of Athos, is located. Along the route, the visitor will come upon a number of chapels and structures, perhaps even the small Cloister of the Annunciation, preparing him for the encounter with the main complex.

Near the centre of the west slope of the Athos peninsula, at the level of the sea and next to the torrent of Nevrokopos with its lush vegetation, the Xenofontos Monastery is already in its eleventh century of existence in this place, between the Monasteries Doheiariou and Panteleimonos. Its architectural plan and building construction were developed in such a way as to meet the needs of the monks, to respect the memory of the past, and to maintain a relationship of calm co-existence with the natural environment.

When you first see a monastery on Mount Athos, such as the Xenofontos Monastery, it makes you feel like you are standing in front of something reaching from another world. The monumental dimensions, the aspect of the buildings, the materials, all clearly belong to other periods of time and seem to serve the functions of another society. The notion of monument comes to mind, which seems to best fit the present-day visitor's visual experience. Yet, it is a living organism that has struggled and evolved in this location for more than a thousand years: It is a monastic brotherhood. Together with the present members, the collective spirit of the past members light the lamps in front of the icons, pray for the founders and the deceased brothers, receive the guests, chant the liturgical hymns, read the sacred texts, cultivate the gardens and fields, and paint the icons. The contemporary monastery is in effect a diachronic fraternity of a thousand years.