Whether from the sixth or the tenth century, it is certain that the Xenofontos Monastery has been present for more than a thousand years in the ‘Garden of the Virgin Mary’, Mt Athos. This constant presence has created a rich history with periods of zenith and decline, characterized by events that although they have made the name of the Monastery great, have piqued historians’ interest about how the Monastery managed to survive. Read about the Monastery when it was occupied by the Ottomans, when it functioned according to the idiorhythmic system, and in particular, how in 1976 it reached the point of being remade into a vibrant, spiritually alive brotherhood, with one of the most important Athonite figures of the 20th and 21st centuries as its Abbot.