Agiou Pavlou Monastery

Agiou Pavlou monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos, located on the easternmost peninsula of Chalkidiki, Greece. The founder of monastery was Paul of Xeropotamou, after whom it is named.

The Monastery was founded in the late 10th to early 11th century by Saint Paul of Xeropotamou, also the founder of the Xeropotamou Monastery. Documents attest of its independence from Xeropotamou by 1035. The Monastery was initially dedicated to Saint George but early on took the name of its founder. Its dedication was later changed to the Presentation of Jesus Christ to the Temple.

Between 1355 and 1365, the Serbian nobleman Antonije Bagaš, together with Nikola Radonja, bought and restored the ruined monastery, becoming its abbott. The restoration of the monastery, supported by Radonja's brothers Vuk Branković and Grgur Branković, marked the beginning of the Serbian period of its history. On October 14, 1410, Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković donated Kuzmin to the monastery, as it was the wish of deceased Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović. Russian pilgrim Isaiah confirms that by the end of the 15h century the monastery was Serb.

In October 1845 Porphyrius Uspensky took 12 leaves of the Radoslav Gospel during his visit, which according to his opinion were the most valuable, and gave them to the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. The rest of the leaves which remained in the monastery were lost.

The monastery ranks fourteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. Its library contains 494 manuscripts, and over 12,000 printed books.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Mount Athos, Greece

Details

Founded: 10th century
Category: Religious sites in Greece