Holy Great Lavra Monastery
On the southeastern side of the Athonite peninsula, on the plateau of a hill, at an altitude of 160 meters, the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra (or Megisti Lavra) is built. In this location there was in the antiquity, a Pelasgian city named "Acrothoi".
The Holy Monastery of Great Lavra is in the first place of the hierarchical order of the 20 monasteries of Mount Athos and is the oldest monastery with over 1000 years of history. The monastery is also the largest in geographical size, reaching 72000 acres.
Pilgrims can access the monastery either by boat from Ierissos, weather permitting, or by road from Karyes. The monastery celebrates on the 5th of July, which is also the day of dormition of its founder, Saint Athanasius the Athonite. In Great Lavra belong the three famous sketes of Agia Anna, Timios Prodromos and Kausokalyvia, as well as many other Seats (Kathismata), Cells and Hermitages.
The foundation of Lavra marks the beginning of the organized community monasticism on Mount Athos, something that was revolutionary at the time and was in contrast to the Orthodox monastic life of the time. The contribution of Great Lavra to Orthodoxy is invaluable as almost 60 of the Holy Fathers of our Church have lived there.
The monastic potential of the monastery today is about 330 people and its abbot is the Archimandrite Prodromos.
The Holy Monastery of Great Lavra was founded in 963 AD by Saint Athanasius the Athonite. St. Athanasius was originally a monk at the Monastery of Kymina on Mount Olympus in Bithynia in Asia Minor.
There he would form a great friendship with the general and later emperor Nikiforos Phokas, a friendship that would prove decisive for the course of the Orthodox Athonite community.
Saint Athanasius decided to quietly leave the Monastery of Kymina, and go to Athos, to practice alone and under an unknown name.
Nikiforos will manage to locate him and will announce to him his deep desire to become a monk himself on Mount Athos.
He even assured him of his full material support so that he could establish the appropriate cenobetic he envisioned. Thus, in 961, Saint Athanasius would begin the arduous construction of the monastery of Lavra. 963 was the year of the official foundation of the monastery and the year that Nikiforos Phokas was crowned emperor. Many will rush to man the new monastery, which is sponsored by the emperor himself, and soon to be their fellow monk.
The monastery will grow and organize itself rapidly and will acquire many glebes (metochia) and dedications thanks to the funding of Emperor Nikiforos and his successor Ioannis Tsimiskis. St. Athanasios had originally built the monastery for 80 monks, but soon their number exceeded this number, peaking in the 11th century when the monastery counted over 700 monks.
Thus, in Great Lavra a new system of monastic life was established, more organized, congregational and disciplined than the previously hermitic and cavernous way of asceticism.
This change caused protests and turmoil in the Athonite community, which ended with the official establishment of the new system by Ioannis Tsimiskis, who signed a founding document with the well-known name "Tragos".
St. Athanasius is considered by many to be the wise reformer of Athonite monasticism, thanks to whom the Athonite Monastic Community has its present form.
Unfortunately, Nikiforos Fokas died on the throne in 969 before he could retire and fulfill his dream of becoming a monk on Athos. In the following centuries the monastery found itself in a period of prosperity until the 14th century, multiplying its estates and its wealth.
But apart from the days of glory, Lavra in its millennial course also went through periods of decline, culminating in the 17th century to reach the point where it had very few monks.
It was tested by pirate raids, crusades, earthquakes, but also by very high taxation during the period of Turkish rule. Taxation which was borne by Lavra as a whole, together with the Monastery of Iviron and the Monastery of Vatopedi. In 1963 there was a great celebration on Mount Athos for the Millennium of the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra.
The Katholikon of the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra is an emblematic church, built almost in the centre of the monastery's enclosure, being a typical example of Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture.
St. Athanasios built the Katholikon around the year 1000, shortly before his death, and dedicated it to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.
However, perhaps from the 15th century onwards, this church is magnificently commemorated every year on the 5th of July in memory of the founder of the monastery.
The Lavra Katholikon was the first to be built on Mount Athos and served as a model on which the construction of the other Katholika was based. Its frescoes were painted in 1535 by the famous Cretan painter Theophanis Strelitzas.
The frescoes of the Trapeza, which include ancient philosophers, are also attributed to the same painter. The Font of Great Lavra was built in 1060, frescoed in 1635 and is the largest on Mount Athos.
Next to the Font stands the cypress tree of Saint Athanasios which is said to have been planted by him, so its age is over 1000 years.
There are 12 chapels in the monastery's enclosure, and 19 others are outside the monastery.
To the right of the Katholikon is the chapel of St. Nicholaos, in which the unique signed work of the painter Franco Cantellano from 1560 is preserved. To the left of the Katholikon is the Chapel of the 40 Martyrs, where the tomb of St.
Athanasius with his remains is located. Another important chapel is that of Panagia "Koukouzelissa", with the miraculous icon of the same name.
The reliquaries that the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra has collected over 1000 years of history are innumerable. Among them are the iron Rod and the iron Cross of Saint Athanasius. This Cross weighs 3.5 kilograms and St. Athanasius always carried it with him during his services.
The Crown of Emperor Nikiforos Fokas and the so-called Sakos, his imperial garment, also stand out. There is also a gift from the same emperor of a handwritten Gospel with a golden cover, as well as a shard of wood from the "True Cross", vestments, sacred vessels and many other things.
The treasures of the monastery include the holy relics of St. Athanasius which are kept in a marble urn in the chapel of the 40 Martyrs. The visitor can also venerate the Holy Caras of the following saints: Saint Vasileios the Great, Alexander of Pydna, Michael of Synades and Eustratios.
The Holy Monastery of Great Lavra has over 2500 portable icons in its Icon Treasury. Some of them are from the Byzantine period, and of course many of them are from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Several miraculous icons of the Virgin Mary are also kept here.
One of these is Panagia "Koukouzelissa" which is associated with Saint Ioannis and today is placed inside the homonymous chapel of the monastery. In the chapel of the 40 Martyrs there is the icon of Panagia "Oikonomissa". Two more miraculous icons of the Virgin Mary are "Elaiovrytis" and Panagia "Ktitorissa".
The library of the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra is the richest on Mount Athos and has one of the largest collections of manuscripts in the world. Here are kept 3000 manuscript codes of which 700 are made of parchment, 50 scrolls made of membrane, 200 imperial Golden Bulls, illustrated manuscripts and others.
As for the printed documents, 22 of the 16th century, 20000 of the 17th and 18th century, and over 100000 of the 20th century are preserved. In fact, in 1759, in Great Lavra, opened the first printing workshop, not only in Mount Athos, but also in the whole of Greece.
Regarding the Athonite monastic products, the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra is famous for its long wine tradition. On Mount Athos, wine has always been an essential commodity, not only because it was necessary for the Holy Communion, but also because it was a basic exchangeable product.
The history of wine production in the monastery goes back to 973, when the then Metochi of Mylopotamos was founded, which was used for vine cultivation and wine production to meet the needs of the monastery. Since then, viticultural activities in Mylopotamos have counted a thousand years of history with alternating periods of prosperity and decline. After 1900 the historic metochi of Great Lavra gradually declined. Its modern revival was undertaken by the elder Epiphanius when in 1992 the Mylopotamos Seat was officially granted to him.
Then elder Epiphanius started the restoration of the ruined building and the reconstruction of a new winery. Today, a 50-acre vineyard thrives in Mylopotamos, producing excellent quality Mount Athos wine.
In the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra many other types of monastic products are produced in many of its components. For example, in the hermitages of Katounakia, the monks are active in woodcarving, hagiography and others. Also, in the Skete of Agia Anna, traditional Athonite products are produced, such as beeswax candles, beeswax salves, frankincense and many more.
