The heart of Mount Athos, the pearl of Byzantine iconography and architecture, Svyatogorsk history and holiness!
It is hard to imagine a large firm without a chief accountant... The Great Lavra of St. Athanasius on Athos is the largest and oldest monastery on the Holy Mountain. The monastery, has no earthly steward - the Virgin herself expressed Her desire to take care of the welfare of the monastery, calling herself "Ikonomissa". She does, however, have an earthly assistant - the post of deputy steward is usually held by one of the Moachs of the monastery. The great Lavra of St. Athanasius of Athos is the standard of cynicism for monks all over the world, it is the heart of Athos, the pearl of Svyatogorsk history and culture, librarianship, the works of ancient isographers, architecture, and, most importantly, holiness!
A friend of Byzantine emperors, an interlocutor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the founder of monasticism... This is all about St Athanasius of Athos, the most beloved and revered saint of Mount Athos, a wise reformist monk of the 9th century from Cappadocia. It was to him that Our Lady gave the promise that there would be no fires in the monastery. The word of the Queen of Heaven is immutable: the Great Lavra was "lucky" more than the other monasteries of St. Sergius - it was never forcibly burned. That is why it has preserved many ancient structures. The architecture of the monastery resembles a fortified city, the walls of which more than once saved from pirate raids, from the Turks, the Franks and the Catalans.
Athanasius of Athos founded the monastery in 963 on the site of the ancient city of Akrathos. Here he built a cathedral (katholikon) in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This period coincides with the systematization of monastic life on Athos - before that the hermits lived unorganized.
The monastery is situated on a small plateau in the southeast of the peninsula not far from the sea. Venerable Athanasius managed to build many buildings on the generous donations of the Byzantine emperors Nicephorus Phocas, Basil II and John Tzimiskes. It was Nicephorus Phocas who suggested to St. Athanasius that he leave Olympus of Bithynia and establish a monastery on Athos. Lavra possesses the entire southern part of the Holy Mountain, the center of these territories being the highest point of Mount Athos.
With influential patrons and generous donors, the monastery flourished for a long time and acquired more and more lands and monasteries. Every year emperors gave alms in gold; Emperor Basil II gave an entire island to the monastery; the Serbian monarch Stefan Dušan also gave generously. However, because of the pirate raids and heavy taxes imposed on the monastery by the Ottoman Empire, the monastery did not survive extinction. The monastic organization of the monastery, established by its founder Athanasius of Athos, was abolished in the 14th century, and the monastery became "monastic in spirit" ("idiorite"). The kynovium was rebuilt in 1980 and was marked by the abundant fragrance of the relics of St Athanasius. The Lavra experienced a decline: at the beginning of the 17th century there were only about 5 or 6 monks living there, the economic situation of the monastery could be assessed as truly dire until the year 1655. At this time, Patriarch Dionysius III donated to the monastery everything he had...
For the pilgrim and lover of antiquities, the Great Lavra is a real treasure. From the time of St. Athanasius, the cathedral temple, which has become a prototype of a special "Athos style." There are two aisles in the cathedral: in honor of Saint Nicholas and the Forty Martyrs of Sebastia. The church is decorated with frescos of XVI century by Theophanes of Crete - one of the greatest painters in the history of world art! In the monastery there are also works by another outstanding master Emanuel Panselinos (presumably he was Theophanes' teacher). It is also very interesting to visit the refectory of the Lavra, which is also decorated with frescoes of the XIV century. Interestingly, besides scenes from the Akathist to the Mother of God, in the refectory one can see images of ancient Greek philosophers: Socrates, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Philo, Solon, Thales, Galen, Plutarch and Plato. They are called "Christians before Christ," which the Greeks, who have an abiding love for their philosophical heritage, could not fail to note. There is also a fresco in which the Virgin Mary drives away the pagan goddess Artemis. A sanctuary dedicated to her existed earlier on the site where Lavra was built.
In the chapel of the katholikon dedicated to the Forty Martyrs there is the tomb of St. Athanasius with his holy relics and a remarkable icon of the Savior of the XII century. Also in the paracels there are the oldest candlesticks on the Holy Mountain - they date back to the X century. In the Lavra courtyard between the refectory and the chapel, there is a chalice (phial) of the XI century that is used to bless water. It is considered to be the biggest on all Athos. Not far from it are planted two cypress trees, which have a thousand-year "reputation" for longevity.
One library is a miracle, preserving 2,116 manuscripts, 20,000 printed books, 100 manuscripts in different languages! In the monastery treasury are the crown and sakkos of Nicephorus Phocas, an ancient quiver for arrows, the covers of printed Gospels, priestly vestments, church utensils, various crosses, medallions, Eucharistic chalices, very valuable portable icons, and much more. Among the abundance of relics in the monastery are the cross, as well as the staff of St. Athanasius. Athanasius (in the saint's cell), the miraculous icons of the Mother of God "Economissa" (they were painted in honor and memory of a merciful apparition of the Mother of God to the founder of Lavra, who promised to become the "economissa" of the monastery) and "Kukuzelisa", which is in the Vvedensky parakleys (it miraculously ended up in Lavra), as well as pieces of the Life-Giving Cross in precious mounts... There are the relics of St. Basil the Great, who was born here. There are relics of St. Basil the Great, St. Michael of Sinad, St. Andrew the Apostle, St. Ephraim the Syrian and many other relics.
There were 27 patriarchs, 27 bishops, and some lived as simple novices, who asceticized in Lavra and its hermitages and monastic cells. More than fifty saints ascended here! Including John Kukuzelis, St. Gregory Palamas and his associate patriarch Philotheus Kokkin. The Great Lavra includes the hermitages of Saint Anna, Kavsokalivos and the Forerunner, as well as the wilderness settlements of Agios Vasilios (Saint Basil), Mikri-Agia Anna (Saint Anna the Little), Kutanakia and Karulia. They are noteworthy in that they were the site of recent exploits by modern-day ascetics. Including the recently canonized and added to the saintly flower of sainthood Porfiry Kovsolavit, Joseph, Ephraim, Daniel, Katunak...
There are about 50 monks currently asceticizing in the Great Lavra, as well as about 300 monks in hermitages, cells, and caves.
The Great Lavra is a monastery in which the traces of the modern saints who walked in it have not grown cold, in which the breath of the prayers of Saint Athanasius of Athos warms the cold hearts, and the Blessed Virgin Mary cares for everyone who turns with all her heart to Her Creator and honors Her as the Mother of God.
