The chapel of Panagia of the Akathist Hymn is located to the north of the entrance nave. Its dome rests directly on the outer walls. It hosts the most valuable icon of the Monastery, which is considered to be the oldest miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary on the Mount Athos: Panagia of the Akathist. The features of the icon are concealed by the myrrh that it emits from time to time. Tradition connects it with the siege of Konstantinople by the Persians and the Avars in 626, and the composition of the the Akathist Hymn, the well-known poem of gratitude that was then dedicated to the Virgin Mary for her help. A great wealth of narratives has survived on its miraculous interventions.
