Xenophontos Monastery

Xenophontos

Ξενοφώντος
External view of the monastery.
Location within Mount Athos
Monastery information
Full name	Holy Monastery of Xenophontos
Dedicated to	St. George
Diocese	Mount Athos
People
Founder(s)	Saint Xenophon
Prior	Archimadrite Elder Alexios
Site
Location	Mount Athos, Greece
Public access	Men only

Atos, Panorama Xenophontos monastery

Xenophontos monastery (Greek: Μονή Ξενοφώντος) is an Orthodox Christian monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece.

It is built by the sea, standing on the western shore of the Athos peninsula. It was built in the tenth or eleventh century. The monastery is dedicated to St George and has 11 chapels inside and 6 outside. The main church was built just prior to the Greek Revolution of 1821 and is in the neo-classical style. It is perhaps the largest on Mt Athos and has perfect acoustics. A large cross is suspended above the inner sanctum and the choirs of the monks do some of the best traditional Byzantine chanting in the whole peninsula. Vatopedi and Gregioriou are its only rivals perhaps. Abbot Alex is the current leader as of 2015. Extensive renovations are being done with money provided by the Greek Government and the EC; many of the workers are from Albania and live nearby. The monastery ranks sixteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. The community has about 55 working monks. Most are Greek, with two senior monks being American.

The library contains c. 300 manuscripts and 4,000 printed books.

Image gallery

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  The new church
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  The old church
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  Courtyard

External links

• Xenophontos monastery at the Mount Athos website
• Holy Monastery of Xenofontos Greek Ministry of Culture