MEGISTI LAVRA MONASTERY

At the foot of Mount Athos, on the southern part of the eastern coast and perched 160 m above the Aegean, here is the oldest, largest and most prestigious monastery on the peninsula: that of the Great Lavra (Ιερά Μονή Μεγίστης Λαύρας/Iera Moni Megistis Lavras). Today forming a kind of small fortified town defended by 15 towers, it was founded on the site of an ancient city in 963 by Saint Athanasius the Athonite. A monk from the Byzantine nobility and friend of Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas, the initiator of the great monastic élan of Athos is buried here in the Chapel of the Forty-Martyrs of Sebaste... one of 21 churches and chapels in the complex! It is the northern extension of the catholicon, with its deep red walls. This was partly erected by Athanasius, who died in 1003 when the church collapsed during construction. The nave is adorned with remarkable frescoes painted by the great master Theophanes the Cretan in 1535, while the narthex was redecorated in 1854. To the south, the Chapel of St. Nicholas preserves the works of Frangos Katelanos (1560), who is also responsible for the most precious frescoes in the Meteora monastery of Varlaam.

Trapeza, skites and treasure. The trapeza (refectory) is the largest on Athos: cross-shaped, it too houses superb frescoes by Theophanes the Cretan. At its peak in the ^14th century, the monastery housed up to 700 monks, before falling victim to raids by Spanish mercenaries and pirates. Still ranked first among the 20 monasteries of Athos, it is also home to the largest community: some 320 monks. However, not all of them live on site. La Grande-Laure owes its name to its mode of operation: laure (lavra). Some of the monks live as hermits in the surrounding area and, in theory, meet on Saturday evenings for a collective liturgy. The monastery has some fifteen churches and a dozen skites scattered around Mount Athos. The most important of these hermitages are Agia Anna and Mikra Agia Anna, to the south of the west coast, while to the south of the peninsula are the large skites of Prodromou (Romanian-speaking) and Kapsokalyvia, each with its own harbour. Last but not least, the monastery is home to the richest treasure of Athos. Consisting of icons and precious objects accumulated since the ^10th century, it is only shown to certain distinguished guests. But it is said to be worthy of Europe's greatest museums!