It is one of the oldest monasteries on Mount Athos and is located 45 minutes on foot from Dafni, on the southwestern side of the peninsula. Its name comes from a nearby dry riverbed. Although tradition claims it was founded in 424 by the sister of Emperor Theodosius the Younger, Pulcheria, written sources mention its foundation in 924, with its founder being the monk Paul, who built it with the help of Romanos I Lecapenus. In 956, it received a generous land donation from a proto-spatharios named John. Its period of prosperity was violently interrupted in the 13th century when it was raided by Frankish pirates. During that time, it seems to have been dedicated to the Forty Martyrs. It was renovated by Andronikos II Palaiologos but was burned for the umpteenth time in 1507, and it was then that Sultan Selim I granted privileges to support it.
The current building complex dates from the 18th century. The Catholicon was constructed between 1761 and 1763 by the scholar monk Kaisarios Daponte from Skopelos, with funds from the Danubian Principalities. The frescoes date from 1783 and depict scenes from the New Testament in the main church, scenes from the Old Testament in the chapel, and scenes from the Apocalypse in the narthex. There is an excellent gilded wood-carved iconostasis with a floral decoration. In the altar, according to tradition, the largest piece of the Holy Cross in the world is kept. The refectory was painted in 1859 by Arsenios and Nikiforos. In total, there are 16 chapels, 5 of which are without frescoes.
It is worth noting an interesting event from its long history. During the 1821 Revolution, a Turkish military unit remained in the monastery until 1829. When the war ended, the monks returned and toured the Holy Cross and the relics of the Forty Martyrs in the Danubian Principalities to gather the necessary resources for the reconstruction of the buildings. In the treasury, among the precious relics, stands one of the masterpieces of Byzantine microcraft, the famous steatite disk known as the “Vessel of Pulcheria.” The library houses 409 manuscripts, 20 of which are on parchment, and about 5,000 books.
Text: Dr. Antonios G. Dikaios / Theologian – Environmentalist.
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