Karyes () is a settlement in

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

of the Athonite monastic community. The 2021 Greek census reported a population of 135 inhabitants. It is the largest settlement in Mount Athos. The major church at Karyes is the

Protaton The Protaton (), also known as the Dormition of the Theotokos Church (), is the main church of Karyes, Mount Athos. It also serves as the ecclesiastical seat of the Protos, or the primate of the monastic community of Mount Athos. It was founde ...

, which is the church of the Protos, or president of the monastic community. The famed

Axion Estin ''Axion estin'' ( Greek: , Slavonic: Достóйно éсть, ''Dostóino yesť''), or It is Truly Meet, is a pair of hymns to the Virgin Mary used in the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, consisting o ...

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

is kept at the Protaton. Each of the twenty monasteries of Mount Athos also has a ''konaki'', or representative's residence, at Karyes. Koutloumousiou Monastery is located just a few hundred meters to the south of the town center of Karyes.

History

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

Bishop

Saint Sava Saint Sava (, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; Glagolitic: ; ; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1235/6), known as the Enlightener or the Illuminator, was a Serbs, Serbian prince and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monk, abbot of Studenica Monastery, Studeni ...

built a church and cell at Karyes, where he stayed for some years, becoming a

hieromonk A hieromonk,; Church Slavonic, Slavonic: ''Иеромонахъ''; ; ; ; ; Albanian language, Albanian: ''Hieromurg'' also called a priestmonk, is a person who is both monk and Priest#Roman Catholic and Orthodox, priest in the Eastern Christianity ...

, then an

archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

in 1201. He wrote the

Karyes Typicon The Karyes Typikon () was written for the Karyes cell on Mount Athos in 1199 by Saint Sava, at the time a monk and later the first Serbian Archbishop. It is basically a translation from a standard Greek ascetic typikon with some minor changes. It ...

during his stay there, and a marble inscription of his work still exists.Đuro Šurmin, ''Povjest književnosti hrvatske i srpske'', 1808
p. 229
/ref> In 1219 Sava became the first Archbishop of Serbia. In the year 1283, Latin

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

during the reign of the

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Michael Paleologos, attacked Mount Athos. They tortured and hanged the Protos, and sacked the Protaton, murdering many of the monks. These monks are commemorated as

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

s by the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

on 5 December (for those churches which follow the traditional

Julian Calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

, 5 December falls on 18 December of the

Gregorian Calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

Geography

Climate

Gallery

File:Κέντρο Υγείας στις Καρυές Αγίου Όρους - panoramio.jpg File:Mount Athos administration building.jpg, Mt Athos administration building File:Karyes 1.jpg, The main church (Protaton) File:Πρόσοψη του ναού.jpg, Closer view of the main church File:Кареја - Света Гора - Протат - panoramio.jpg, The building of the monastic Community (Iera Koinotita) File:Λιθόστρωτο στις Καρυές Αγίου Όρους - panoramio (1).jpg, Α cobbled street File:Πύργος στις Καρυές. - panoramio.jpg, Α stone tower File:Kartsiotis Nikolaos shop Karyes, Mount Athos.png, The shop Σ. Ν. Καρτσιώτης in Karyes, Mount Athos

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Mount Athos Saint Sava