The Barlaam monastery
The monastery was
named after a mid-14th century monk named Barlaam, who was the first
to climb the rock; he then proceeded to build a chapel dedicated to the Three
Hierarchs. Foundation
of the monastery is nevertheless attributed to two brothers, Theophanis and
Nectarius Apsaras, who settled on the rock in around 1517. With the help of two
other monks they set to repairing the buildings erected by Barlaam, and in 1541
added the catholicon dedicated to All Saints. It was in this period that
the monastery acquired significant estates, flourishing until after the death
of Theophanis (1544) and Nectarius (1550).
Another person of significance for the monastery was an 18th century
monk named Brother Christopher, who catalogued the archives and copied a number
of historical texts, some of which are now exhibited in the monastery museum.
Access to the Monastery is gained via a flight of 107 steps, leading visitors to
the top of Barlaam’s rock. To the right lie the hospital, the chapel of
St Anargyroi, the catholicon and the tower, while the refectory, the small
Church of the Three Hierarchs, the cells and the hostel are on the left.
The monastery catholicon is a cross-in-square— tetrastyle triconch
church, rapidly built of rubble masonry. The interior is decorated with wall
paintings of high artistic merit dating to two distinct phases. The bema
and nave were adorned in the first of these, in around 1548, and are attributed
to the Theban artist Frangos Katelanos, while the lite was painted in
the second phase in 1566. The church was partially redecorated in 1780 and 1782
with funding from Bishop Parthenios of Stagi. The particularly rich iconographic
program follows the Mount Athos tradition, and
has likewise been attributed to Katelanos, founder of the Northwestern
Greek
School of painting.
Glossary (5)
catholicon:
the main church
of
a monastery.
As a rule
it
was the most imposing one, located in the center of the courtyard
chapel:
small
sized church, either
independent, belonging
to a religious foundation, or part of
a larger
church.
In Byzantium chapels were often
used for burials.
triconch:
building with three apses.
wall paintings or murals:
Painted scenes on a wall or ceiling surface.
lite:
Spacious
narthex
of monastic
churches,
where
the Service of the Lite was
celebrated
Information Texts (0)
Bibliography (9)
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