Monasteries of Mount Athos

The Holy Monastery of Vatopedi, which ranks second in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries, is located on the north-eastern side of the Athos peninsula and it is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. It was founded shortly before 985. 

According to an age-old tradition, the ancient monastery founded by Constantine the Great and destroyed by Julian the Apostate, was restored by Vatos, brother of Theodosius the Great, as a token of gratitude to the Holy Virgin for the miraculous rescue of his son from a stormy sea. According to another, later version, the old monastery founded by Constantine the Great and destroyed by Julian was restored by Theodosius the Great in honor of the Holy Virgin, because her miraculous intervention saved his young son Arcadius from a storm near the Athonite coast, where the monastery was built.  

The earliest written mention of the monastery (985) testifies to nobleman Nikolaos from Adrianopole, the first ktetor and abbot who settled, at the suggestion of Saint Athanasios the Athonite, in a pre-existing dilapidated establishment, part of which was probably the partially recovered early Christian basilica, from which the columns that were reused in the austere katholikon and at the last level of the bell tower must come. Athanasios (mentioned between 1020-1040) and Antonios (mentioned in 1142), whom tradition considers contemporaries with Nikolaos, were also eminent Adrianople ktetors. 

The monastery developed rapidly in the 11th century and rose in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. At the end of the 12th century, the Serbian rulers Simeon and Savvas Nemanja settled there and engaged in significant construction work, which is why they were regarded as new ktetors. It gained prominence during the years of Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1328) and John VI Kantakouzenos (1347-1354). At the beginning of the 15th century, Andronikos Palaiologos, the last despot of Thessaloniki (1408-1423), made generous donations to the monastery. Following the Ottoman conquest (1423/4), it preserved its privileges and its high rank in the hierarchy, like the rest of the monasteries. During the first centuries of the Ottoman occupation, the rulers of the Danubian Principalities made generous financial contributions, donated works of art and bestowed metochia. In the course of time, church officials, community leaders and Russian tsars have become benefactors of the monastery. 

The precinct of the monastery, which assumed its current size as early as the Byzantine years, include a large courtyard, dominated by the katholikon, the refectory, the chapels of Agioi Anargyroi and the Holy Girdle, the bell tower, the sacristy and storeroom, and various other edifices. Chapels, towers, the synod building, the sacristy, monks’ cells, the dorter and other auxiliary spaces are incorporated into the wings of the monastery.

The katholikon was built at the end of the 10th-middle of the 11th century, and underwent different construction phases at a later stage. The church preserves the only surviving mural mosaics on Mount Athos, dating from the 11th to the 14th century. The murals, of high artistic value, were crafted in 1312, as a later inscription from 1819 testifies. An even older layer of painting from the 12th century has come to light. The Byzantine murals were partially covered with paintings over various periods from the 17th to the 19th century.

The excavations carried out at the monastery brought to light, in addition to part of the early Christian basilica, important building remains of the Byzantine period, such as parts of the early precinct at the end of the 10th century, as well as the early post-Byzantine period, such as the foundations of a complex of cells in the south wing and the kitchen that was constructed by Neagoe Basarab near the bell tower.

Important relics and works of art from the Byzantine and post-Byzantine era are treasured in the monastery. The miraculous icons of the Virgin Mary are highly revered, as well as the palladium of the monastery, and the Holy Girdle of the Virgin Mary, which is kept in a 19th century silver and gold reliquary. The mosaic icons of the Crucifixion (end of the 13th – beginning of the 14th century) and that of Saint Anna (beginning of the 14th century) are among the few surviving artworks of this kind – not only in the monastery, but also in Mount Athos. From the multitude of portable icons of exceptional artistic value, those of Hodegetria (end of the 13th – beginning of the 14th century), the Deposition (14th century), the Lamentation of Christ (last quarter of the 14th century), etc. stand out. Among the most valuable works of art are the famous Jasper Chalice, which belonged to Manuel Kantakouzenos Palaiologos, despot of Mystras (1349-1380), the rock crystal reliquary (the so-called “kratetera”) from the beginning of the 15th century, the Holy Chalice, the holy disk and the asterisk, crafted at the expense of Thomas Preloubos, despot of Ioannina (1366-1384), the cross of Constantine the Great (end of the 14th – beginning of the 15th century with 17th century and first half of the 19th century additions), etc.. 

The library of the monastery includes one of the most important collections of manuscripts, scrolls, and early printed books on Mount Athos. Ptolemy’s Geography (13th – 14th century) and the Octateuchus (13th century) are among the most significant and rare historic manuscripts, while the elaborate manuscripts donated to the monastery by the emperor John V Kantakouzenos (1347-1354) are of considerable importance.

A milestone in the history of the monastery was the establishment of the Athonite Academy in 1749, on a hill opposite the monastery. The Academy proved to be a great educational institution of the Orthodox East, especially during the years when the scholar, clergyman and Teacher of the Nation, Eugenios Voulgaris was the headmaster. Nowadays, the sketae of St. Demetrios and St. Andrew, and a large number of cells belong to the Vatopedi monastery.

Liakos