For the greatest part of its history, the Monastery was much smaller. It gradually developed, restrained by a row of three successive tall rocks that stood on the side of the mountain, almost independent of each other. The 1744 drawing of the Russian monk-traveler Vasily Barskyshows this arrangement. This early-phase structure can also be seen today from the outside of the north wing, opposite to the deep and steep ravine. Barsky even writes in his diary that the architectural arrangement of the St Pavlos Monastery does not resemble any other monastery on Mt Athos. On the third rock, towards the east, stands the great tower of the monastery, while a fourth rock of similar size lies a little further east, outside the precinct.
