Built in the interior of the northwestern Athonite peninsula, north of the Monastery of Koutloumousiou, it remains hidden from the sea. The exact time of its founding is shrouded in legend, which claims that in the 10th century, during the reign of Leo VI the Wise, the ascetics Moses, Aaron, and John from Ohrid arrived here. Another tradition suggests that the monastery was named after a miraculous appearance of the icon of Saint George, its patron saint, on a wooden surface after a dispute between its founders.
According to scholars, its foundation is likely linked to the signing of the name “George the Iconographer,” which appears in the years 970-72 on the “Tragos” (typikon) of John Tzimiskes. He is not mentioned as a monk or abbot, but was likely an iconographer, similar to the monk and abbot Nicholas, who also co-signed the same document.
The monastery is mentioned in the 1051 Holy Mount Athos Synod. From the 13th century onwards, the monastery was controlled by Bulgarian monks. Its “records” from the late 13th century to 1320 are valuable sources for the agricultural history of the Struma valley. The cenotaph bears witness to a tragic event: In 1276, when Michael VIII Palaiologos was emperor and Patriarch Beccos was in office, 26 monks met a tragic death for refusing to unite with the Roman Catholic Church.
The monastery recovered after the destruction caused by Catalan pirates in the 14th century, thanks to the support of the Palaiologos dynasty, Bulgarian ruler Michael Asen, and the Moldavian ruler Stephen the Good (1457-1504), who built the tower of the harbor and granted several dependencies. The dominance of Bulgarian monks in the monastery since 1845 led to the practice of conducting services in Slavonic, the ancient Slavic liturgical language. Until then, Serbian and Bulgarian monks coexisted, and until the mid-19th century, services were held in both Greek and Bulgarian.
In 1801, the Catholicon, dedicated to Saint George the Great Martyr, was constructed on earlier foundations. The brotherhood venerates the acheiropoietos icon (according to tradition) of Saint George in a shrine within the church. The frescoes were painted in 1817, and in 1840, the church was completed with a glazed narthex. A treasured relic for the monks is the icon of the “Listening” Virgin Mary, which is kept in the Holy Altar. The monastery’s library contains 126 Greek and 388 Slavic manuscripts, along with more than 10,000 books.
Text: Dr. Antonios G. Dikaios / Theologian – Environmentalist.
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