The Holy Monastery of Philotheou is situated on the northeast side of Mount Athos between the Kathisma of Mylopotamos which belongs to the Megisti Lavra Monastery and the Karakallou Monastery. The earliest known reference is documented in 1015, originally recorded as Pteris Monastery. It was named Philotheou Monastery after the blessed Philotheus, who, according to tradition, was a disciple of...

The Holy Monastery of Megisti Lavra ranks first in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries, and it is also the largest monastic establishment in terms of the area it covers. It was founded in 963 by St. Athanasius the Athonite and was the first large cenobitic community on Byzantine Athos, a model for other monasteries. The ambitious building project of...

The Docheiariou Monastery, dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, ranks tenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. Built on sloping ground by the sea, it is the first monastery along the coastline of the Athonite peninsula. Its establishment dates back to the late 10th or early 11th century and it is associated with monk Euthymios, the storekeeper (docheiaris)...

Konstamonitou Monastery, documented in Athonite documents since the 11th century, is located on the southwest side of the Athonite peninsula towards the Singitic gulf. Its buildings, mainly constructed after the middle of the 18th century as it was destroyed and restored several times over its long history, form a beautiful, typical Athonite monastery, characterized by simplicity in design, homogeneity and...

Gregoriou Monastery is located on the southwest coast of Mount Athos, perched on a rock. It was founded shortly before the middle of the 14th century and dedicated to St. Nicholas. Its founder is St. Gregory the Younger, the so-called hesychast, disciple of St. Gregory of Sinai. The Monastery ranks seventeenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries and has...

The Holy Dionysiou Monastery, fifth in the hierarchy of Athonite monasteries, is dedicated to the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. It was founded in the mid-14th century by monk Dionysios from Koryssos in the Kastoria precinct (1310/5-1390) with the financial support of emperor Alexios III the Great Komnenos of Trebizond (1350-1390). In 1378, it suffered a pirate raid during...

Vatopedi Monastery, which ranks second in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries, is situated on the northeast side of the Athos peninsula and it is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. It was founded shortly before 985 by nobleman Nikolaos from Adrianople, who, according to tradition, was contemporary with two other Adrianople ktetors mentioned in sources, Athanasios (reference...

The Holy Monastery of St. Paul, fourteenth in the hierarchy of Athonite monasteries, is located at the western foot of Mount Athos and is dedicated to the Presentation of Christ in the temple. It was founded at the end of the 10th – early 11th century from the blessed Pavlos Xeropotaminos at the top of a rock face. In the...

Zografou Monastery, built on a forested hillside on the southwestern part of the Athos peninsula, was one of the great spiritual centers of the Balkan Slavs throughout its history. According to tradition, the Monastery was founded in the 10th century by three brothers; Moses, Aaron and John from Ohrid. The earliest documented evidence of the monastery can be traced to...

The Holy Monastery of Iviron, third in the hierarchy of Athonite monasteries, was founded around 979-980 by Georgian (Iberian) monks of aristocratic descent; headed by John, son of Euthymius and the military officer John Tornikios, it was built on the site of the ruined ancient monydrion of Clement. Tornikios was closely associated with Emperor Basil II (976-1025), who asked his...

The Karakallou monastery is located on the eastern coast of Mount Athos and its foundation dates back to the end of the 10th century or early 11th century. It received substantial financial support from emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (late 13th century) and later on, from the ruler of Wallachia Petru Rareș (16th century). Despite occasional damage, its layout is not sufficiently...

Xeropotamou Monastery is located in the middle of the Athos peninsula, on the way from Daphne to Karyes and it is dedicated to the Forty Martyrs. It ranks eighth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. One tradition associates Empress Pulcheria with the foundation of the monastery; another attributes its foundation to Constantine Porphyrogenitus and Romanus Lecapenus. It was founded...

The Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Pantokrator Monastery was founded in the middle of the 14th century by the Byzantine officials and brothers, Alexius and John and it is dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Saviour.  Emperors of Byzantium and rulers of the Danubian Principalities, after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, contributed to the establishment and the enhancement of the...

The seven-storey Simonopetra Monastery is the most daring construction on Mount Athos. It is built on a steep rock on the southwest side of the peninsula and is dedicated to the Nativity of Christ. It is named after its founder, Saint Simon. It ranks thirteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. At the end of the 16th century, and...

The history of the monastery begins in the 10th century, when it served as a monydrion. After falling into decline, it was reestablished and reopened by the Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremiah I, in 1540. The Katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to St. Nicholas and it was painted by the renowned representative of the Cretan school, monk Theophanes Strelitzas, in 1546....

Chilandar Monastery is located on the northeast part of Mount Athos; it is one of the largest and richest in heirlooms monasteries of Mount Athos and has been the main spiritual center of the Serbs from the 12th century onwards.  According to some researchers, the name of the Monastery comes from the Athonite monk George Chilandarios, according to others, from...