Everything about Esphigmenou Monastery totally explained
Esphigmenou monastery (
Greek: Μονή Εσφιγμένου) is an
Eastern Orthodox monastery at the
monastic state of
Mount Athos in
Greece, dedicated to the
Ascension of Christ. It is built next to the sea at the northern part of the Athonite peninsula. Located near the
Hilandar monastery, it's the northernmost of all Athonite monasteries. The current monastery dates back to the 10th century AD, while tradition holds that the site had been used as a monastery since as early as the 5th century. Esphigmenou ranks eighteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries and has since the 1970's been a source of controversy due to conflict with the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It currently holds a brotherhood of approximately 115 monks, which makes Esphigmenou the most populous monastery in Athos.
Name
The monastery's name translates to Greek literally as
tightened. There exist conflicting traditions regarding the naming of the monastery. One attributes the name to the fact that the monastery is built on a stretch of land, tightened by three surrounding hills and the sea.
Byzantine emperor John Komnenos in his book
Proskynetarion tou Agiou Orous tou Athonos (Greek:
Προσκυνητάριον του Αγίου Όρους του Άθωνος) describes the monastery thus:
It is called "Esphigmenou" because it's restricted by three small mountains, close to the sea.
Another tradition attributes the name to the monk that either founded or renovated the monastery. It recounts that he used to wear a tight rope around his waist, therefore the monastery got the name "of the tightened".
History
Athonite tradition attributes the foundation of the monastery to the Byzantine emperor
Theodosius II and his sister
Pulcheria during the 5th century AD. According to the same tradition this early monastery was destroyed by a huge rock that fell from the nearby hills. According to the same tradition its remains can still be found 500 metres from the existing monastery. Historical and archaeological evidence can't safely confirm this tradition and therefore the precise time of the monastery's foundation, as well as its founders can't be positively identified.
The evidence can however confirm that as early as the late 10th or early 11th century the monastery existed. It is mentioned in at least three manuscripts. The monastery is referred in a letter by Paul of
Xiropotamou dating from 1016. In the
will of the monk Demetrius of Chalki, dating from 1030, is signed by a monk who calls himself "Theoktistos monk and abbot of Esphigmenou monastery". Finally, the monastery is mentioned at the second
Typicon of Mount Athos in 1046.
The monastery greatly prospered until the
Ottoman conquest. Many Byzantine emperors, such as
John V Palaiologos, contributed to this, as well as leaders of other orthodox states such as
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia and
George, Prince of Rascia. This prosperity was however shrouded by constant disputes over land issues with the neighboring
Vatopediou monastery, as well as many
pirate raids and two great fires that damaged the monastery during the 14th century. According to manuscripts held in the monastery's collection, the pirates posed a serious threat to the monastery because the sea near it's usually calm compared to the seas around the rest of the athonite peninsula. Due to the above reasons the monastery was eventually ruined and practically deserted which allowed the nearby monasteries of
Hilandar and
Zograf to grab various portions of land from it, which lead to further legal disputes.
However the monastery managed to recover eventually, as evidenced by a manuscript dated from 1569 that recounts of 51 monks working for its reestablishment. In 1655
Czar Alexis I of Russia gave the monks permit to travel throughout his lands every 5 years to raise funds for the monastery. During the same period the rulers of the
Danubian Principalities also made significant contributions to the monastery. During the early 18th century the bishop Gregory of Melenikon made donations to the it and eventually become one of its monks, undertaking a renovation of the monastery. Also, the bishop Daniel of Thessaloniki took care of the monastery's finances and, with the consent of the Athonite community and
Patriarch Gerasimus III of Constantinople, made the monastery a
cenobium. The relevant patriarchical edict was published in 1797 by
Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople, who also rebuilt the southern part of the monastery that had been ruined.
A series of competent abbots (Acacius, Euthymius, Theodoritus and Agathangellus) greatly renovated and expanded the monastery, to the point that the current structures date almost exclusively from their time. The successor of Agathangellus, Lucas, founded an
iconographic school, that greatly served the monastery for an extended period of time.
During the
Greek War of Independence, the monastery, being the northernmost monastery of the peninsula, suffered gravely from the Ottoman armies that ravaged Mount Athos. However, during this period, it did experience some degree of prosperity.
Controversy
Esphigmenou has been involved in a decades long dispute with the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the 19 other Athonite monasteries, as well as the
Church of Greece and other mainstream
Orthodox churches and institutions.
The monastic community of
Mount Athos is under the direct spiritual jurisdiction of the
Ecumenical Patriarch and all Athonite monks are
canonically required to commemorate (Greek:
να μνημονεύουν) the Patriarch. However, since the 1970's Esphigmenou has become the stronghold for the staunchly conservative
Greek Old Calendarists who accuse the Patriarchate of being
ecumenist and refuse to commemorate the Patriarch. These accusations stem from the conciliatory approach that has been adopted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate towards the
Roman Catholic Church, as manifested by meetings of the Ecumenical Patriarch with the
Pope, such as the 2006 papal visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in
Istanbul.
The monks of the monastery have broken all spiritual ties with the rest of the monastic community and don't participate in the common meetings at
Karyes, the administrative center of Athos. The Esphigmenites are generally regarded as
zealots by the rest of the Athonite community, while they regard themselves as "Genuine Orthodox Christians" or "Orthodox Christians in Resistance", seeing other Athonites as ecumenist
heretics, while using as their motto the phrase
Orthodoxy or Death.
The relationship between the Esphigmenites and the Ecumenical Patriarchate have greatly deteriorated since 2002, when
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople declared them as being in
schism with the Orthodox Church. Since the
Constitution of Greece prohibits schismatics from dwelling in Athos, the Esphigmenites were ordered by a
Thessaloniki court to leave the monastery. However they refused to comply, even when the Greek Supreme Court ordered their eviction.
The Ecumenical Patriarch and the rest of the Athonite community reacted by declaring the Esphigmenites illegal, and sanctioned the formation of a new brotherhood, that recognizes the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate. Esphigmenou again gained global attention in December 2006 when members of the new brotherhood tried to force their way into the monastery's offices in
Karyes. The Esphigmenou monks in the building attempted to defend themselves from the sledge-hammer wielding attackers who had smashed the front door of the building, repelling the intruders with the only things they'd to defend themselves with - crowbars and fire extinguishers. In the ensuing clashes seven monks were severely injured.
In January 2007, the District Attorney of Thessaloniki pressed charges against the Esphigmenou squatters for embezzlement of over 150.000 euros and estate belonging to the monastery.
The BBC interviewed the Greek Governor of Mt Athos, George Dalacouras, during which the charges against the monks were brought into question as being politically motivated and another pressure tactic to force the monks out.
Architecture
The monastery is home to various important structures. Although the monastery dates back as early as the 5th century, the current structures were built mainly during the first half of the 19th century. The general outline of the monastery is a rectangular wall which forms a spacious inner courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard lies the Catholicon surrounded by the wings that house the monks' cells, the guest-house and the refectory.
Its
catholicon, which is dedicated to the
Ascension of Christ, was built by the abbot Theodoritos, between 1806 and 1810. It is built at the site of an earlier catholicon and in the manner of athonite churches. It was inaugurated by Patriarch Gregory V in 1811. The construction of the catholicon was greatly aided by personal donations of the bishop Ignatius of Kassandreia. The temple itself is spacious and majestic and bears 8 domes on its lead covered roof, the central dome being the largest. The
marble used for its construction was transported to Athos from
Tinos, the place of origin of the church's architect, Paul.
The
nave of the catholicon was decorated with iconography in 1811 and the
sanctuary in 1818 by the iconographers Veniamin, Zacharias and Makarios. The decoration was completed in 1841 with iconography of the
narthex by the iconographers Ioasaf, Nikiforos, Gerasimos and Anthimos. The
altar, the
iconostasis, as well as other features of the temple, date back to this era. The iconostasis in particular, which depicts scenes from the Old and the New Testaments, is wood carved, covered with golden plating and is considered one of the most important post-byzantine iconostases in Athos. The catholicon also has two
chapels, a
vestibule and a
porch, added in 1845 by
Ecumenical Patriarch Anthimus VI of Constantinople, a previously Esphigmenite monk.
Outside the southeastern corner of the catholicon there's a
Font (Greek:
Φιάλη), that's used to keep
Holy water. It was built in 1815 by the abbot Euthymios, at the site of an older similar structure that dated from the time of
John V Palaiologos. The structure is roofed by a dome that's held by eight marble columns, connected by sculpted marble metopes.
The
refectory is the oldest building in the monastery. It is a semi-detached building in the west wing, across the catholicon. It is a rectangle building, renovated in 1810 by abbot Euthymios. Its iconography, dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries still survives, albeit greatly damaged by fires that the Ottoman soldiers lit to accommodate themselves during their stay in the monastery during the Greek revolutionary war.
The monastery also has 13
chapels, 8 inside the main complex and 5 outside. Among the inner chapels, the most important are the chapel of the
Presentation of Mary and the chapel of the
Archangels at the sides of the catholicon. The other inner chapels are distributed at various sites inside the monastery and contain no frescoes but house important
icons. Of the outer chapels, the most notable is the chapel of
Saint Anthony of Kiev, the founder of the
Kiev Pechersk Lavra, that lies just across the monastery.
Cultural treasures
The monastery's treasury houses many important relics. The treasury, along with the monastery's library are temporarily housed over the catholicon's narthex. Among important cultural treasures, such as crosses, books, garments etc, Esphigmenou has in its possession a large (3.05×2.80 m
2) part of
Napoleon Bonaparte's
tent, which was donated to the monastery by Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople. The monks use this once a year, at the celebration of the Ascension of Christ, as a tent over the entrance of the catholicon.
The so called
Cross of Pulcheria lies at the catholicon's altar, which also houses cases of
holy relics and a very important byzantine
mosaic icon. The icon is barely 0.15×0.07 m
2 and depicts
Christ in a standing position in great detail. The icon is surrounded by a silver frame that depicts the
apostles, while holy relics are engraved at its lower side.
The monastery also has a large collection of manuscripts. Its library houses 372 manuscripts, of which 75 are
parchment and some bear iconographic decoration. Famous among this is the renowned Minologion, coded #14, that bears 80
miniatures. The library also holda a collection of roughly 2000 printed books, while 6000 more are also housed in another part of the monastery, at the second floor of the northern wing.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Further Information
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