An old tradition of the Monastery, reflected in art and hymnography, suggests its founding is linked to St Xenofontos the Senator, who lived as a hermit on Athos in the 6th century. According to this tradition, the Saint built a small church dedicated to St Demetrios along with a few rudimentary cells. It is worth remembering that the extensive survival of oral history at Mount Athos has no equivalent in Greece.
