Pantokratoros Monastery ( el, Μονή Παντοκράτορος) is a Greek Orthodox

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

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 peni ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. It stands on the north-eastern side of the Athos peninsula, and is dedicated to the

Transfiguration of Our Lord In the New Testament, the Transfiguration of Jesus is an event where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) describe it, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it (). In thes ...

. The monastery ranks seventh in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries.

History

It was founded around 1360 by the ''

megas stratopedarches Magnús Þór Jónsson (born 7 April 1945), better known by the stage name Megas, is a vocalist, songwriter, and writer who is well known in his native Iceland. Interest in music Being an admirer of Elvis Presley, Megas welcomed the arrival of r ...

'' Alexios and the ''

megas primikerios The Latin term ''primicerius'', hellenized as ''primikērios'' ( el, πριμικήριος), was a title applied in the later Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire to the heads of administrative departments, and also used by the Church to denote th ...

'' John after an imperial

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 '' bul ...

was granted to them by

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. Biography John V was the son of E ...

in March 1357. By the end of the 15th century, the Russian pilgrim Isaiah confirms that, the monastery was Greek. After a long period as an idiorrhythmic monastery, it reverted to the coenobitic system in 1992, the last monastery on Mount Athos to do so. Thirteen fathers from the Athonite monastery of Xenophontos were permitted to move in, and priestmonk Vissarion was elected as abbot. He died shortly after resigning the abbacy in 2001, and priestmonk Gabriel was elected to succeed him. A notable monk was

Benjamin of Lesbos Benjamin of Lesbos ( el, Βενιαμίν Λέσβιος; alternatively transliterated as Veniamin of Lesvos or Lesvios; 1759–1824) was a Greek monk, scholar, and politician who was a significant figure in the Modern Greek Enlightenment. Biogr ...

, who was ordained as a monk in the monastery in the late 1770s and went on to become a significant figure in the Modern Greek Enlightenment. In 1992, Vatopedi was converted from an

idiorrhythmic Idiorrhythmic monasticism is a form of monastic life in Christianity. It was the original form of monastic life in Christianity, as exemplified by St. Anthony of Egypt ( 250–355) and is the opposite of cenobitic monasticism in that instead of c ...

monastery into a

cenobitic Cenobitic (or coenobitic) monasticism is a monastic tradition that stresses community life. Often in the West the community belongs to a religious order, and the life of the cenobitic monk is regulated by a religious rule, a collection of pre ...

one, becoming the final idiorrhythmic monastery to make the change to cenobitism.

Manuscripts

The library houses c. 350 manuscripts, and 3,500 printed books. The monastery's documents are written in Greek and Turkish. Today the monastery has about 30 monks. Notably the Uncial 051.

Sites

( el, Γεφύρι στη Μονή Παντοκράτορος) is a historical bridge located at a stream behind the main monastery.

References

External links

Official website

Pantokrators monastery at the Mount Athos website

Pantokrator Monastery at OrthodoxWiki
{{Authority control Christian monasteries established in the 14th century Monasteries on Mount Athos Greek Orthodox monasteries Byzantine monasteries in Greece