- Zograf Monastery
The Saint George the Zograf or Zograf Monastery ( _bg. Зографски манастир, "Zografski manastir"; _el. Μονή Ζωγράφου, "Moní Zográphou") is a Bulgarian Orthodox
monastery onMount Athos (the "Holy Mountain") inGreece . It was traditionally founded in the late 9th or early 10th century by threeBulgarians fromOhrid and is regarded as the historical Bulgarian monastery on Mount Athos, and it is traditionally inhabited by Bulgarian Orthodoxmonk s.The monastery's name is derived from a 13th or 14th century icon of
Saint George that is believed to have not been painted by a human hand and to possess wonder-working powers.History
The earliest written evidence of the monastery's existence dates from
980 .During the
Middle Ages , the monastery was generously supported by the Bulgarian rulers, such as Ivan Asen II and Ivan Alexander, since it was a matter of pride for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to maintain a monastery on Athos. The Zograf Monastery has also received land endowments by Byzantine (the first donor beingLeo VI the Wise ), Serbian, and Romanian rulers.The Zograf Monastery was plundered and burnt down by
Crusaders , working under orders from theByzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos , in1275 , resulting in the death of 26 monks. These included theigumen (abbot ) Thomas, as well as themonk s Barsanuphius, Cyril, Micah, Simon, Hilarion, James, Job, Cyprian, Sabbas, James, Martinian, Cosmas, Sergius, Paul, Menas, Ioasaph, Ioanicius, Anthony, Euthymius, Dometian, Partenius, and four laymen. The reason for this attack was the opposition of the Athonite monks to the Union of Lyons, which the Emperor had supported for political reasons. Since the emperor could not attack the Greek monks without incurring the wrath of his own people, he vented his frustration on the Slavic monks. Having hanged the Protos (the elected president of Mount Athos), and having killed many monks inVatopedi ,Iveron and other monasteries, the Latins attacked Zographou. Theirmartyr dom is commemorated annually onOctober 10 (October 23 on theGregorian Calendar ) throughout the Eastern Orthodox Church.Mercenaries of theCatalan Grand Company raided the Holy Mountain for two years (1307–9), sacking many monasteries, plundering the treasures of Christendom, and terrorising the monks. Of the 300 monasteries on Athos at the beginning of the 14th century, only 35 were left by the end. [Citation
last =
first =
contribution =Athos in the ancient Greek period
year =2000
title =The History of Mount Athos
editor-last =
editor-first =
volume =
pages =
place=
publisher =Macedonian Heritage
id =
url = http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Athos/General/AthosHistory.html
accessdate =2007-10-24] But the monastery recovered quickly with the help of grants and support from the Palaeologue Emperors and the princes of theDanubian Principalities . The buildings were reconstructed in the late 13th century with the financial aid of Byzantine EmperorAndronicus II Palaeologus . The monastery was also given numerous "metochia" (properties) in parts of Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, and modern-day Turkey, but retains today only those which are in Greece.The monastery exists in its modern appearance since the 16th century, while its present-day buildings date from the middle 18th century. The south wing was built in 1750, the east in 1758, the small church was erected in 1764 and the large one in 1801. The north and west wing are from the second half of the 19th century and large-scale construction ended in 1896 with the
Saints Cyril and Methodius Church and the raising of thebell tower .Among the numerous
relic s and other holy objects treasured at the monastery is theWonderworking Icon of theTheotokos "Of theAkathist ", thefeast day of which is celebrated onOctober 10 . Since Mount Athos uses the traditionalJulian Calendar , the day they celebrate as October 10 currently falls onOctober 23 of the modernGregorian Calendar .Library
The Zograf Monastery owns a
library of major significance to Bulgarian culture, preservingmedieval manuscript s such as a 15th century copy of the passional of Saint Naum of Ohrid, the 14th-century passional of Saint Paraskevi, the original rough copy ofPaisius of Hilendar 's "Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya " and the "History of Zograf". The monastic library houses 388 manuscripts in Slavic and 126 in Greek, as well as about 10,000 printed books altogether. Twomedieval Bulgarian royal charters , the Zograf Charter and the Rila Charter, have been discovered in the monastery's library.Honour
Zograf Peak onLivingston Island in theSouth Shetland Islands , Antarctica is named after the Zograf Monastery.Gallery
References
External links
* [http://www.pravoslavieto.com/manastiri/aton/zograph/index.htm Zograf Monastery at Pravoslavieto.com] (in Bulgarian)
* [http://www.mountathos.gr/active.aspx?mode=en{7475eec7-5c43-4d1a-81cb-7fe70c76416a}View Zograf Monastery at the Mount Athos website] (in English)
* [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=108024 26 Martyrs of the Zographou Monastery on Mt. Athos at the hands of the Crusaders] Orthodoxicon andsynaxarion
* [http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/my.html?month=October&day=10 The Holy Martyrs of Zographou] from "The Prologue from Ohrid"
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