The monastery of Agios Stephanos
Access to the Monastery of Agios Stephanos (St.
Stephen) is gained via
a
small
stone
bridge leading from the modern
road to the main entrance.
Although the first
evidence
of
habitation
on the rock
dates back
to the 12th
century, the
monastery
was
founded
in
the 14th
century
by Anthony, a member of
the Catacuzenus
dynasty.
In the mid 16th
century
the catholicon
was restored
by
Philotheos,
the monk who is regarded
as
the
second
founder.
In 1545 Patriarch Jeremiah I declared Agios Stephanos independent
and stavropegic, privileges which it retained for the following 200 years. The new catholicon dedicated to Agios
Charalambos was
built in the late 18th century.
Apart from the old and new catholica and a few later
buildings, a number of other structures have been restored
and
preserved: the oblong
refectory,
which is roofed over by two elliptical domes and presently
functions as a sacristy - cum - museum, a small square vaulted kitchen,
stables and cells.
The
old catholicon
is composed of
the lite
and the church proper.
A
tripartite
arched opening in the square lite
leads to a single nave timber-roofed church ending
in a
three-sided
apse to the
east.
The wall paintings in Agios Stephanos were completed
in two phases. The first, which would appear to have been sponsored by Abbot
Metrophanus and Brother Gregory, accounted for the paintings
in
the sanctuary,
the nave
and
the greater
part
of
the lite. These follow the anti-classical tradition of
post-Byzantine art and, based on stylistic features, date to the 1st half of the 17th
century; they
have been attributed to artists from Linotopi
in
Epirus. The paintings covering the west wall in the lite and the lower
zone on the piers of the tribelon leading
to the nave both derive from the
second decoration phase, and were sponsored by Abbot Grigorios.
Built in 1798, the new catholicon is a
cross-in-square triconch
domed church dedicated to Agios Haralambos. The Prothesis and Diakonicon
also have domes, while to the east the church ends in three semicircular apses.
Glossary (8)
catholicon:
the main church
of
a monastery.
As a rule
it
was the most imposing one, located in the center of the courtyard
stavropegic monastery:
Monastery that is a direct dependency of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
sacristy:
Chamber or
storage
container
where
sacred utensils, icons, books, furniture,
vestments
and
manuscripts were kept. Special care
was taken to guard sacristies against thieves and fire, and as a consequence they
were often located
either
above
the narthex or the lites of the catholicon.
lite:
Spacious
narthex
of monastic
churches,
where
the Service of the Lite was
celebrated
piers or pillars:
supports of square or rectangular cross-section. They are usually freestanding (not attached to a wall), made of built masonry.
triconch:
building with three apses.
prothesis:
chamber to the
north
of the
Bema
which holds the Holy Gifts
before the Great
Entrance,
and
the Communion
after
Divine
Liturgy.
diaconicon or diakonicon:
Chamber with a
niche,
usually
opening
off the
south
side
of the
church,
where offerings from the faithful, sacred vessels and
vestments
were kept.
In the
late
6th
century it
was moved to
the eastern
part
of the south
aisle,
next to the Sanctuary. Another similar room, called the
prothesis, was constructed on the east
side
of
the
north
nave.
Sanctuary
architecture as still seen today was established by the addition of these
compartments.
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Bibliography (9)
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