Simonopetra Monastery ( el, Σιμωνόπετρα, literally: "Simon's Rock"), also Monastery of Simonos Petra ( el, Μονή Σίμωνος Πέτρας), is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

in Greece. Simonopetra ranks thirteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. The monastery is located in the southern coast of the Athos peninsula, between the Athonite port of Dafni and Osiou Grigoriou monastery. While the southern coast of Athos is quite rugged in general, the particular site upon which the monastery is built is exceptionally harsh. It is built on top of a single huge rock, practically hanging from a cliff 330 metres over the sea.mountathos.gr
The monastery currently houses 54 monks, and the hegumen is Archimandrite Eliseus.

History

The monastery was founded during the 13th century by

Simon the Athonite Simon the Athonite (died 1287) was a Greek Orthodox monk of the 13th century, later sanctified by the Eastern Orthodox Church as Saint Simon the Myroblyte. His feast day is 28 December. Date of birth Simon's date of birth is uncertain, but he ha ...

, who was later sanctified by the Eastern Orthodox Church as Saint Simon the Myrrh-bearer. Tradition holds that Simon, while dwelling in a nearby cave, saw a dream in which the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

instructed him to build a monastery on top of the rock, promising him that she would protect and provide for him and the monastery. The original monastery was called by Simon "New Bethlehem" (Greek: Νέα Βηθλεέμ) and is to this day dedicated to the Nativity of Jesus. In 1364, the

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

despot

Jovan Uglješa Jovan may refer to: *Jovan (given name), a list of people with this given name *Jovan, Mawal, a village on the western coastal region of Maharashtra, India *Jōvan Musk, a cologne *Deli Jovan, a mountain in eastern Serbia *Róbert Jován (born 1967 ...

funded the renovation and expansion of the monastery. He issued a royal

chrysobull A golden bull or chrysobull was a decree issued by Byzantine Emperors and later by monarchs in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, most notably by the Holy Roman Emperors. The term was originally coined for the golden seal (a ''bull ...

for the monastery in 1368. Russian pilgrim Isaiah wrote that, by the end of the 15th century, the monastery was Bulgarian. In 1567, the ''arsanas'' (port building) of Simonopetra was completed. Its construction was funded by a Wallachian noble. In 1581, Simonopetra was destroyed by a fire, in which a large portion of the monks died. Evgenios, the monastery's abbot traveled to the

Danubian Principalities The Danubian Principalities ( ro, Principatele Dunărene, sr, Дунавске кнежевине, translit=Dunavske kneževine) was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th ce ...

hoping to raise funds to rebuild the monastery. The most important donor was Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, who donated large portions of land as well as money to the monastery. The monastery was also burnt in 1626, and the last great fire happened in 1891, after which the monastery was rebuilt to its current form. During recent centuries, the monks of the monastery were traditionally from

Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...

in Asia Minor. However, during the mid-20th century the brotherhood was greatly thinned out because of a great reduction in the influx of new monks. The current brotherhood originates from the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron in Meteora, when in 1973 (also known as Aimilianos of Simonopetra) and his monks moved into Simonopetra, hence repopulating the almost abandoned monastery. He served as Abbot of Simonopetra from 1974 until 2000. 20th-century saints associated with the monastery include (died 1957).

Architecture

The monastery consists of several multi-storeyed buildings, the main being in the place of the original structure, built by Simon. The main building has been described as the "most bold construction of the peninsula".Greek Ministry of Culture
The monks of Simonopetra traditionally count the floors from top to bottom, thus the top floor is the first floor and the bottom floor the last. The monastery is built on top of the underlying massive rock, and the rock runs through the lower floors. The expansion and development of Simon's original structure almost always followed one of the monastery's great fires. Following the 1580 fire and with the funds gathered by abbot Evgenios, the western building was erected. The eastern building was built following the 1891 fire mostly with funds raised in Russia.

Choir

The choir of Simonopetra has grown in reputation among

Byzantine music Byzantine music (Greek: Βυζαντινή μουσική) is the music of the Byzantine Empire. Originally it consisted of songs and hymns composed to Greek texts used for courtly ceremonials, during festivals, or as paraliturgical and liturgical ...

specialists and enthusiasts. The monastery has published a series of collections of ecclesiastic Byzantine chants by the choir. Of these, ''

Agni Parthene ''Agni Parthene'' (Greek: ), rendered "O Virgin Pure" or "O Pure Virgin", is a Greek Marian hymn (i.e., hymn to the Virgin Mary) composed by St. Nectarios of Aegina in the late 19th century, first published in print in his ''Theotokarion'' () in ...

'' is the most popular and has earned the choir and the monastery widespread recognition. Recordings include: * ''Hymns from the Psalter'' (1990) * ''

O Pure Virgin ''Agni Parthene'' (Greek: ), rendered "O Virgin Pure" or "O Pure Virgin", is a Greek Marian hymn (i.e., hymn to the Virgin Mary) composed by St. Nectarios of Aegina in the late 19th century, first published in print in his ''Theotokarion'' () in ...

'' (''Agni Parthene'') (1990) * '' Divine Liturgy'' (1999) * ''Great Vespers'' (1999) * '' Paraklesis'' (1999) * ''Service of Saint Simon'' (1999) * ''Sunday Matins'' ('' Orthros'') (1999) * ''Service of St. Silouan the Athonite'' (2004)

Gallery

File:Athos 13.jpg, Simonopetra File:Simonos petras 1.jpg, Simonopetra File:Simonopetra Monastery.jpg, Simonopetra File:View of the Monastery and Aqueduct of Simopetra, on Mount Athos, taken from the Sea-shore - Curzon Robert - 1849.jpg, Monastery and Aqueduct of Simopetra, 1834 File:Athos 14.jpg, View of Simonopetra from the sea

References

External links

Simonopetra monastery at the Mount Athos websiteInternet Archive

Liturgica.com: the recordings of the choir of Simonopetra

Youtube: The recordings of the Choir of Simonopetra

Choir of Simonopetra
(Χορός Σιμωνόπετρας), album recordings on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonopetra Monastery Monasteries on Mount Athos Greek Orthodox monasteries in Greece Byzantine sacred architecture Christian monasteries established in the 13th century Byzantine monasteries in Greece