It is located on the northeastern side of the Athos peninsula, about two and a half hours from the Karakalles. It is built at an altitude of 316 meters and borders the monastery of Iviron. According to an 18th-century tradition, it was founded by Philotheos, a disciple of Saint Athanasius the Athonite, before 972. In a lost 19th-century manuscript, published by the Byzantinologist Porphyrios Uspensky, there is mention of the existence of the monastery in 992.
Historical data speaks of the construction of buildings by Emperor Nikephoros Botaneiates (1078-1081). The monastery’s reinforcement continued in 1284 by Andronikos Palaiologos, a period in which its abbot was appointed spiritual leader of the Palace. The records mention the support of imperial officials such as the parents of Theodora Palaiologina Philanthropini, the uncle of Andronikos II, and the protovestiarios Andronikos Palaiologos.
The monastery’s property grew with lands in the Strymon River valley and in Lemnos. Since 1346, the monastery’s brotherhood had the support of the Serbian rulers. Around 1500, the Georgian ruler Leontios financed expansion and renovation works. In the mid-14th century, some Serbian monks settled there, and in the 15th century, the monastery became an idiorrhythmic one. A major event in its history was the fire that broke out in 1871 and destroyed part of its buildings.
In 1746, the Catholicon of the Annunciation of the Theotokos was rebuilt on older foundations. The costs of the project were contributed by the ruler of Wallachia, Gika, through an annual donation to the monastery. The frescoes of the main church are from 1752, and its floor is covered with marble. The narthex and the outer narthex were painted in 1765. In the chapel, there is the miraculous icon of the Virgin of Glykofilousa. Tradition counts it among the 70 icons painted by the Evangelist Luke. According to a newer tradition, the monks claimed that the monastery possesses valuable relics, such as a nail from the Crucifixion of Christ, which was a dedication of Andronikos III. In the 14th century, a manuscript copying workshop operated here.
Text: Dr. Antonios G. Dikaios / Theologian – Environmentalist.
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