The Xenofontos Monastery is located on the beach. There are a great many buildings inside its walls – remains of structures dating prior to the 10th century, the original cathedral, the refectory, the large, new cathedral (the biggest and best illuminated on Mt Athos), the new Conference Hall – and an extensive land area unmatched by any of the other Athonite monasteries. These bear witness to the Monastery’s centuries of expansion, with the driving forces behind its survival being the maintenance of the standards of monastic life, and the preservation of the long Athonite traditions of architecture and art.