The old cathedral had been at the core of the spiritual life at the Monastery for over eight centuries. Groups of holy figures share the space with the faithful, painted on walls in 1544 by the painter Antonios. The frescoes express an artistic style different from that of Theophanis of Crete and Frangos Katelanos, the two masters who dominated the religious painting of the Balkans in the 16th century. The art of the painter Antonios, with daring contrasts of light and shadow, is closely related within Athos to the frescoes of the Chapel of St Georgios in the Monastery of St Paul.
