Agiou Pavlou monastery

Agiou Pavlou

Monastery information
Full name	Μονή Αγίου Παύλου
Order	Greek Orthodox
Dedicated to	Paul the Apostle
People
Founder(s)	Paul of Heropotamou
Site
Location	Mount Athos Greece

Agiou Pavlou (Saint Paul's) monastery (Greek: Μονή Αγίου Παύλου) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos, located on the easternmost peninsula of Chalkidiki, Greece.

Agiou Pavlou monastery.

The monastery is in the western part of the Athos peninsula and its Katholikon (main Church) is dedicated to the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Its feast day is celebrated on 2 February. (Since the monastic community of Mount Athos observes the Julian Calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the civil calendar, 2 February on the Julian Calendar falls on 15 February of the modern Gregorian Calendar.)

The founder of monastery was Saint Paul of Xeropotamou. Between 1355 and 1365, the Serbian nobleman Antonije Bagaš bought and restored the ruined monastery, becoming its abbott. On October 14, 1410, Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković donated Kuzmin to the monastery, as it was the wish of deceased Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović.

Bishop Porphiry Uspenski (1804–1885) during his visit in October, 1845, took 12 leaves of the Radoslav Gospel, 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.

The library contains 494 manuscripts, and over 12,000 printed books.

The monastery contains 31 working monks and has two idiorrhythmic sketes (smaller, dependent monastic houses):

• The Romanian Lakkoskiti and
• The Greek New Skete

External links

• Agoiu Pavlou monastery at the Mount Athos website
• Greek Ministry of Culture: Holy Monastery of Αgiou Pavlou (St.Paul's)