Daphni Monastery | The largest Byzantine Monastery of Attica
At the western entrance of the Athens basin, on the outskirts of the Chaidari grove, on Athens Avenue, is the largest Byzantine Monastery of Attica, the Dormition Monastery, known as Daphniou Monastery.
The Dafniou Monastery is considered one of the most important Byzantine monuments of Attica, due to the brilliant mosaics that adorn its interior walls. The pictorial program follows the established arrangement of the Middle Byzantine period. In the dome of the temple dominates the figure of the pantocrator and in the alcove of the Sanctuary the Virgin Mary surrounded by angels. Many of them are preserved to this day, despite the damage from both earthquakes, looting and raids by corsairs that caused many alterations.
The Foundation of the Monastery dates back to the end of the eleventh century and probably the place where it was built is on the ruins of the ancient sacred temple of Daphnei or Daphnei Apollo. From excavations that have been carried out in the area, scattered architectural findings have been found, which are assumed to have belonged to the ancient temple. According to another view, Dafni got its name from the laurels that grow abundantly in the area.
Another version associates her with the Virgin Mary of Daphne in Constantinople. A tradition, narrated by the elderly nun Martha around 1870 to Georgios Lampakis, states that the name as well as the foundation of Daphni are related to the queen Daphne. A legend of the time states that Daphne was shipwrecked in the sea of Skaramangas, but was rescued along with twelve barrels full of flour. In order to please the Virgin Mary, he built the monastery in her honor and buried the remaining coins in seven jars in the monastery's enclosure.
There are still many versions from traditions, rather fictions, which have arisen from the popular belief that the monastery was an institution of a Byzantine emperor.
In the 16th century the monastery flourished and Monk Akakios was the pioneer, while in the 18th century it declined when it was abandoned by the monks and experienced various uses. During the revolution of 1821, the Dafniou monastery was attacked by the Turks and burned. Afterwards, the ruined monastery was turned into a garrison, a rebel hideout and a gunpowder store. From 1883 and for at least two years, the site housed the Public Psychiatry.
In the first years of the 19th century the monastery was visited by Lord Elgin, who detached three slender Ionic columns - now in the British Museum - which supported the arched openings of the facade of the external narthex of the monastery's catholicon. Only one of the columns of the exonarthex remains to this day in its original position, in the southwest corner of the building.Due to its status as an archaeological site, the monastery never functioned as a church again. The work of fixing and restoring the complex and maintaining the mosaic decoration of the catholicon began at the end of the 19th century. The overall restoration work of the monastery was intensified after the devastating earthquake of 1999. Today, the Daphni Monastery is partially open to the public, since since 2011 restoration and maintenance work has been carried out on the monument.
Since 1990, the monument has been included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, together with the Monastery of St. Loukas, in Steiri Voiotia, and the New Monastery of Chios. Together, these three monasteries are considered to give the complete picture of Middle Byzantine ecclesiastical art.
The characteristics of the Monastery:
The Monastery is located within a square enclosure, with towers, ramparts and two exit gates, on the east and west sides. Inside the precinct, the Catholic church dominates. To the north are the ruins of the Bank and parallel to the four sides of the enclosure are the ruins of the monks' cells.The eastern and western wings, which are developed south of the Catholic, are auxiliary buildings of the Monastery, whose, due to the frequent modifications and interventions, it is difficult to define the initial construction phase in time. To the west of the Monastery is an underground cistern, with an underground network of pipes, which communicated with wells outside the Monastery. Remains of hypocaust are also preserved. To the south of the courtyard area of the Monastery, ruins of hypostyle halls, have not yet been safely identified with any building of the monastery.
- Subscribe to the channel by clicking here : bit.ly/3mDSXwF
- Subscribe to Instagram by clicking here : bit.ly/32S0YWC
- Subscribe to TikTok by clicking here : bit.ly/3Eq1sp9
16 май 2024
