Holy Panteleimon Monastery. Holy Panteleimon Monastery

July 27 (August 9) - the great martyr and healer Panteleimon - patronal feast.

Monastery of the holy vmch. Panteleimon is located on the seafront between the monasteries of Xenophon and Xiropotam. The monastery is also called Russian on Athos of the Holy Panteleimon Monastery or simply Russik.
In its present place by the sea, the monastery appeared after 1765. Previously, it was located farther from the sea, where today stands the "old Russik", or "Thessaly monastery", founded at the beginning of the XI century by a rich Christian from Thessaly. At this time, the first Russian monks began to come to the Holy Mountain, settling in the monastery of Xilurgu. Soon he was overwhelmed and could no longer accommodate everyone, so the Holy Kinot, at the request of Hegumen Lorenius, handed over to the monks the monastery of Thessaly that was empty by that time. The monastery of Xylurgu has been transformed into a monastery and remains to this day.

Until the end of the fifteenth century, the inhabitants of the monastery were mostly Greeks. After the liberation of Russia from the Mongol-Tatar yoke, a massive influx of Russian monks to the Holy Mountain begins.
After a short period of prosperity, the monastery becomes poorer. By the middle of the 18th century, Russik was emptying. Grigorovich-Barsky, a pilgrim monk and eighteenth-century writer, when he first visited the Holy Mountain, found in the monastery only four monks - two Russians and two Bulgarians, and the second time - nobody. Subsequently, the monastery fell into the hands of the Greeks again. In 1667, Bishop Christopher of Jerisson built a small temple on a new location by the sea, consecrated in honor of the Ascension of the Lord. In this place in 1800 - 1820, the present Panteleimonov monastery was built with the help of the rulers of the Balkan and Danube principalities. Particularly generous donations were made in the first quarter of the last century by the ruler of Moldo-Wallachia, Scarlat Callimachus (the cathedral church was erected with his funds). In 1806, Patriarch Kallinik V approved a communal charter in the monastery by decree.

During the years of the Greek uprising, Russik, like most Athos monasteries, again fell into disrepair. The monastery was in distress. And since 1840, Russian inhabitants began to appear in it again. Soon they, as before, made up the majority of the brethren, as a result of which, in 1875, after many years, the Russian hegumen was re-elected, and Russik became a truly Russian monastery. The generous gifts and donations of the Russian royal family contributed to the rapid revival of the monastery. By the end of the 19th century, more than 1000 monks lived in the Panteleimon Monastery, many Russians lived in other monasteries, hermitages and cells of the Holy Mountain.
The cathedral temple of the monastery was built in 1821. It is crowned with typically Russian domes - "onions" with gilded crosses. The richly decorated iconostasis is made by Russian masters. According to the rule adopted in 1875, services in this temple are performed in two languages \u200b\u200b- Greek and Slavic.

Opposite the entrance to the cathedral there is a refectory for up to 800 people, built in 1890.

The chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin is attached to the cathedral, and the church of St. Mitrofan. In the northern part of the monastery are temples, as well as temples-paraclises: in honor of the Ascension of the Lord, pr. Sergius, vmch. Demetrius, Archangel Michael, St. Gerasim, St. Konstantin and Elena, equapp. pr. Vladimir and Olga, as well as the Church of the Intercession with the chapel of the Holy Right Prince Alexander Nevsky. Unfortunately, after a devastating fire of 8 churches located in the southern part of the monastery, only 2 survived: pr. Savva and St. Nicholas.
The monastery owns 2 more churches outside it, as well as 5 cells: Euphemia, St. Cosmas and Damian, the Life-Giving Source, primev. Stefan and vmch. George. The monastery also owns the monastery of Khromitsa, the monastery of the Virgin (Xylurgu), the monastery of New Thebaid and Old Russik.

The relics contain the relics of many saints: the head of St. the great martyr Panteleimon, particles of the Holy Cross, as well as the relics of St. John the Baptist, holy apostles Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Bartholomew, Thomas, Barnabas, Luke, holy first martyr Stephen, St. Prokhor, St. Ambrose the Mediolan Palamus the Apostle, and St. our time.
The monastery’s library is rich in a separate two-story building. It contains about 1320 Greek and 600 Slavic manuscripts. Of particular note is the richly decorated miniatures Gospel and 16 Words of St. Gregory the Theologian. In addition, the library houses more than 20,000 printed Greek, Slavic, and Russian books.

The brotherhood of the monastery has about 90 monks.

Good afternoon! Kalimera *! I am a pilgrim from Russia ... And ... can you stay here?
- Calimera. For the night. No more. Come up after five, after the service and the meal. You can leave things on the shelves.
So, not really, frankly, they cordially greeted me in the archdonar of our Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery. You don’t need a stack of crayfish traditional on Athos, not a cup of coffee, not even a glass of water ...
“I have ... a letter from Vladyka ...” I handed him a letter of recommendation on company diocesan letterhead from our ruling bishop with the lowest request to put me, turnaround, for a couple of days at the monastery’s hotel, but he didn’t even look at him.
- Yes to us even from the most universal patriarch Bartholomew! We have our own rules here..   All. I'm leaving.
Fondar, as they are called on Athos in some places, father Igor, young, about thirty years old, a thin monk with glasses, pushed me beyond the threshold of the reception room, closed the door with a key and quickly disappeared.
"Yes! I told myself. - So it goes..."
And he remembered: “Where are you? On Athos! So humble yourself, endure. "
The racks, exactly the same as they used to be in the lockers at the stations, were located directly opposite the front door. I unpacked a backpack, a bag on the lower shelf, put a staff next to me and went to look around, what’s wrong ...

The hotel was five floors. A very large hotel, with wide marches of stairs, with platforms, halls ... All this, of course, was built before the revolution, when some pilgrims and workers in St. Panteleimonov housed up to three thousand. Now, apparently, there were only two floors involved, the one on which the reception room was located, and another, higher, third floor ... True, when I entered the bridge that spans the moat that separates the hotel from the alley, on the first On the floor below, at the very bottom of the moat, some people loomed, as I later learned, the Georgian workers.

Climbing to the third floor, right next to the staircase I found a small “boot” with a balcony running along the entire outer perimeter of the wall. The balcony was, however, on a strong constipation, but the Aegean Sea opened outside the window and the doors leading to it. The hotel hung directly above the edge of the coast, and it was clearly visible how foamy waves splash on the coastal boulders ...

To the sound of the waves, I lay down, as I was, on some sofa, upholstered in artificial leather, in the corner against the wall and ... at that very moment fell asleep. Sleeping for many hours all night until the morning at the throne celebratory service in the Xiropotam Monastery, then a plentiful meal with crayfish and grape wine, an eight-kilometer foot walk, without a halt, with full laying out, along a narrow mountain trail over the sea shore - all this, Of course, I could not let myself know ... I fell asleep like a murdered one.

Woke up - the time was five to five. To the church of St. Panteleimon, he jumped almost skipping. Found in the shade in the narthex free stasidium and there still snoozed for about forty minutes. The service was short, apparently a little supper. After which all those who were present, about fifteen monks, were ahead of the clergy: the abbot, the abbot of the monastery, the confessor and all the rest moved to the refectory, since the refectory on Athos almost all that I saw before and after were located exactly opposite the catholicon - the main temple, ten to fifteen meters. In Xiropotam, you don’t even need to go out on the street - you get into the refectory through a covered glazed gallery.
The refectory of the St. Panteleimon Monastery is a cross between the tsar’s chamber and another church proper, only without an altar, designed for more than one hundred people at the same time eating. Along the long high hall are two rows of wooden tables and benches. The walls are painted with gospel stories, and the pillars are full-length depictions of saints, among whom was St. Seraphim of Sarov. Murals, therefore, not earlier than 1903 ... Now it’s calm here, at two small tables, one of which, the igumen’s one, housed all those present in the service, including monks, novices and several pilgrims, among whom, besides me, there was one St. Petersburg priest and two along the DECR line.
There was some kind of porridge, there were beans, gray bread, onions, soaked garlic, some wine and, like everywhere on Mount Athos, a lot of salty olives: I don’t want to eat ...
Upon leaving the refectory, the fondric father Igor, quickly slipping past me, without looking back, threw over his shoulder:
- I am waiting for you.
At the reception, he asked for my diamontirion.
- What is your occupation?
- The chief editor of the magazine.
Fondric did not even react. Why then asked? If only I asked what ... Nothing here "rolls": neither a letter of recommendation, the very brother of the abbot of the Moscow courtyard of the monastery Nikon (Smirnov), nor is he still respectable age, or "main" ...

So. One night only. Do you understand me?
“That's right,” I wanted to say, but did not, so to speak, exacerbate ...
- Come on, I will show. Third floor...
He reminded me very much ... I don’t understand only whom, either the people's freedom-revolutionary, as I always imagined them, or our deputy for science, who was preoccupied not so much with science, but with reports and formal discipline: who came and went and how much etc.
By the way, when I arrived home, I came across these words of the Athos elder Paisius (Svyatogorets): “The biggest mess in the monastery is the secular order with military discipline, which not only tires, especially the modern tired world, but also expels holy simplicity, lavishes spiritual and "bodily forces on the earth, because of which man forgets God." And still there: "People to the organizers of this system appear to be blockheads, and they ruthlessly cut them, and despite the fact that people suffer from it, they rejoice at the squares that they make of them (in the style of cubists)."
Yes! Like it or not, but still right were those who warned me about the St. Panteleimon Monastery, and there were at least three of them. The representative of the Pilgrimage Service Victor told me that in Panteleimonovo they are very reluctant to accept those who do not travel through their own pilgrimage service from the Compound. Friends said: “Why do you need Panteleimon?” Experienced "aphonites" have long been circled by his side   and only at the end of the trip for a couple of hours they drop in there to bow to the relics " . I didn’t want to believe them, but - I was convinced ... Although I had to meet another thing - such, by the way, is, for example, a testimony: (late, I think, 90s - early 2000s):
“Hieromonk Isidore cannot be found on the Mount Athos of Russia. In accordance with obedience, he is Panteleimonov’s hotel (locally - archondaric), and it depends on him where you will be able to lay your head after a long Svyatogorsky path ... So, father Isidore is usually the very first Panteleimonian you meet. Mandatory “where from?” and the entry in the book of pilgrims (diamonitirion, that is, a residence permit, he does not ask, like the archondaric in other monasteries - Athos ethics is built on trust). Then comes the tea. Without haste, but with Turkish delight. After the presentation of the image of St. Panteleimon will lead you to the place of temporary refuge ... it is difficult to imagine a more ideal hotel than Fr. Isidore, meeting you as the most dear, long-awaited relatives. A long beard cannot hide his joyful smile, as well as glasses - his radiant eyes. Add to this the always benevolent, almost enthusiastic intonations. But another thing is thought - maybe this is the essence of monastic work, in which, after cutting off his “ego”, his own will, the place begins to “paint a person”. The archondarine must meet the guests as Christ himself, and he greets them like that. ”

However, all God's will (in everything, they also say, God's providence), and if everything was perfect, without a hitch, I would surely relax and would not go in frustrated feelings to walk along the promenade ... But I would not go to walk there - I wouldn’t go out in the dark to the Siluan mill - I wouldn’t meet a siromakh ** Barnabas - I wouldn’t get to Old Pasomia with his help the next day ... Well and so on, right up to spending the night in a real - ancient - monastic cell at the Tikhvin temple ... We would not drink tea in the morning with a 76-year-old man, a native and Pochaev, in an arbor, overgrown with vines with bunches of grapes, did not lead to a conversation with him for the faith, "for life", for their country, and of other, other, other ...

• Postal address, postcode - 63087 Daphne Mount Athos
• Telephone of the monastery - (+30) 2377023252
• Fax - (+30) 2377024153
• Call Center - (+30) 2377023682
• Representation of the monastery in Caries (Mount Athos) - (+30) 2377023201
• Representation of the monastery in Thessaloniki - (+30) 2310321798
• Patronal feast - Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon
• Established in the 11th century, Thessaloniki Monastery, 1875 recognition of the Russian community-based system of monasticism, present place 1812.
• Hierarchical place - 19/20
• The monasteries with which are managed in the Athos Parliament - Dionysiath, Zograf, St. Panteleimon, Constamonite.
• The hostel system of the monastery from - 1803, the Blessing of Patriarch Kallinik Ε ′
• Hegumen - Sacred Archimandrite Eulogius (2016)
• The number of monks - 100 monastery, 3 kellyots
• Cells and Kathisma (hermitage settlements) belonging to the monastery - Skete of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Virgin), 12 Keliy (New Thebaida and Krumitsa), 2 Kathisma (Old Rosik)

History and Modernity

The Monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos (Greek: Μονή Αγίου Παντελεήμονος); also known as Rousikon (Greek Ρωσσικόν) or New Russik - one of the 20 “ruling" monasteries on Mount Athos in Greece. It is traditionally considered to be “Russian,” although the composition of the inhabitants became completely Russian only in the last quarter of the 19th century, when it came under the actual control of the Russian Church and the Russian government (until the outbreak of the First World War).

Byzantine period

The monastery of St. Panteleimon is mentioned for the first time in the document of the monastery Vatoped from 998, signed by his abbot Leonty, who signed after eleven years in another document as Leonty Thessaloniki. “Thessaloniki” is the second common name for the monastery, but in written sources there is also a third option, which sounds like: “St. Panteleimon Srendzis Thessaloniki”. Perhaps Srendzis was the founder of the monastery or one of the abbots.

Over time, the monastery became known as the "Russian monastery" or "monastery of the Russians." In subsequent years, the monastery is not mentioned in written sources, which probably indicates its small significance in the hierarchy of Athos. In 1262, the abbot’s signature of the monastery is found, which he put in Latin letters: “Mefodie igoumenos ton Rouson”. As a result of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the number of Russian monks greatly decreased, and a new flow of immigrants from Russia began only in the 15th century.

Throughout the XIV century, the monastery tried to find its national character. The signatures of its representatives are found both in Greek and in Slavic. In one of the documents of this time there is a signature in Greek: "Simeon ... Russian confessor." The fact that the confessor of the Russian monastery was a Greek monk suggests that most of the monks of this monastery knew Greek. Starting from the third quarter of the 15th century, the monastery comes to life again and a large number of monks from Russia arrive here, strengthening the status of a Russian monastery for the monastery.

Turkish rule

Despite the impressive support provided by the rulers of Russia, this monastery did not escape the fate of other monasteries during the period of Turkish rule and also experienced difficult times. In 1582 the monastery was closed for a while, and in 1661, due to its poverty, it was exempted from paying fees. In 1693, the monastery was closed again: "Here is the Russian monastery, deserted, and the monastery and its lands are in the possession of the Great Lavra." In 1725, two Russians and two Bulgarian monks lived here, and twenty years later, only a few Greeks. The monastery flourished in the early 19th century, when the family of the Wallachian rulers, Kalimaki, took care of it. The lands of the monastery outside Athos were located on the Halkidiki peninsula and in Thessaloniki, but also in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa and Odessa. The 1808 census refers to the monastery of St. Panteleimon 57 monks, of which 27 lived within its walls.

Our days

The monastery is located on the picturesque territory of the southeast side of the Athos peninsula. The monastery complex consists of all kinds of multi-story buildings, impressive with their grandeur. Until the First World War, the monastery was blessed with numerous donations from the Russian government.

The territory of the monastery was expanded first to the north and east, and then a further expansion was programmed, which could not be completed due to the loss of support from Russia. Outside the monastery are other impressive buildings. In one of them today is a hotel, which before the fire of 1968 was in the old wing of the monastery.

The main temple of the monastery is dedicated to St. Panteleimon and was built shortly before the Greek uprising. It is decorated with eight magnificent domes. The walls of the temple are painted with amazing frescoes of the Russian school. Services are conducted alternately in Greek and Russian.

The refectory is located on the western side of the monastery opposite the entrance to the main temple. It was built in 1892 and is so spacious that it can accommodate up to 1000 people. Above its entrance is a bell tower with a pyramidal roof, a bell with a diameter of 2.71 m and a weight of 13 tons, as well as two smaller bells. In addition to these three bells, there are 32 more bells of various sizes. The ringing of bells creates a feeling of blissful harmony. For the largest bell, two bells are required. An experienced monk ringer can simultaneously work with 16 small bells.

There is a font in front of the refectory. Also in the courtyard of the monastery is a separate library building.

The monastery includes 35 chapels. Of particular note is the chapel of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Alexander Nevsky (1852). This is a kind of second main temple, where all services are conducted in Russian. In the courtyard, west of the library, is the chapel of St. Mitrofan, which was used as the first Russian temple that arrived at the monastery in 1840.

The monastery includes 2 cells in Caries, one of which is used as a representation, three other cells are located in different places of the Holy Mountain. On the way to Caries, where the Thessaloniki Monastery used to be, the cell of Palomonastro existed. The monastery was empty in 1765 and began to be used as a cell. Later, Russian monks built magnificent buildings and a magnificent temple, which, unfortunately, were empty. According to written sources, the old main temple was decorated with amazing frescoes from the late Macedonian school.

The monastery also owns: the Skete of the Assumption of the Virgin (Vogoroditsa), the settlement of New Thebaid and Khromitissa.

The monastery’s treasure is a library that was badly damaged during the fire of 1959, and several priceless shrines, including the relics of St. Panteleimon, the foot of St. Andrew, the honest head of the Apostle Luke, the relics of John the Baptist, the apostles: Peter, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew and Barnabas; the first martyr Stephen, Isaac of Dalmatia, Dionysius the Areopagite, the disinterested Cosmas and Damian, Cyril of Jerusalem, Tryphon and many others.

Monastery Guide

The main entrance of the monastery, recently decorated with frescoes, is located in the south wing. The main entrance leads to a large courtyard, surrounded by the coastal wings of the buildings, as well as the restored archondarik (hotel for pilgrims). A covered passage leads to a spacious, stone-paved courtyard.

The east wing, the old hotel building, parts of the northeast and southeast wing were destroyed by a major fire in 1968. On the upper floor of the north wing is the chapel of the Intercession and Alexander Nevsky. On the lower 3 floors are the cells of the monks. The recently restored south wing includes the chapel of St. John the Baptist, a new hotel, as well as the cells of the monks.

The main temple of the monastery is dedicated to St. Panteleimon. The commemorative inscription of the narthex suggests that the construction was begun in 1812 and completed in 1821. It also refers to the ruler of Moldavia, Callimachus (1809-1889), clerk of the monastery.

The main temple of the monastery in its architectural type follows the traditions of Greek and Russian architecture. The temple is decorated with 8 domes of the Russian type. Similar domes are found in chapels. The richly decorated iconostasis also comes from Russia. Narteks and the main temple are decorated with frescoes of 1855, created during the abbess Gerasim. Many of them were subsequently restored.

According to the patriarchal decree of 1875, services in the main church of the monastery are held alternately in Russian and in Greek. This temple is also called the Greek Catholicon (main temple), in contrast to the chapel of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh, which was used as the main temple by the Russians, starting in 1858.

The monastery has 36 chapels. The Chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin is a separate building behind the main temple. Services are held in Greek. In the chapel of St. Mitrofan, west of the library, services are held in Russian. There are 9 chapels in the north wing, including: Ascension of the Lord, St. Sergius, St. Dmitry and St. Alexander Nevsky, with a capacity of up to 2000 people, as well as the chapel of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos of 1888 with richly decorated, gilded, iconostasis and many icons with silver gilded salaries . Among the notable icons, it is worth noting the mosaic icon of St. Alexander Nevsky.

There are 8 chapels in the south wing, of which only 3 survived after the fire: St. Sava, St. Nicholas and John the Baptist. Other chapels of the monastery are located outside the monastery.

The font of the monastery, located between the main temple and the refectory, differs in that it is not surrounded by a monumental structure with a dome. This font, decorated with bas-reliefs, became a gift from the Joasaph Brotherhood to the monastery at the end of the 19th century.

The refectory is located in the western part of the courtyard, opposite the main temple. This is a freestanding rectangular building, built in 1893, designed for 1000 people. Above the entrance to the refectory is the bell tower, built in 1893. This is a tall but strong building, capable of supporting the weight of 32 bells, amounting to more than 20 tons. The large bell over the refectory has a diameter of 2.7 m and its circumference is 8.7 m. The bell is dedicated to the memory of Andrei Dmitrievich Samgin and keeps the name of its creator, Joakim Vorobyov. On the same floor there are three more bells, each of which weighs 3 tons. On the second floor there are smaller bells associated with the bell tower clock.

The sacristy of the monastery occupies a two-story building, attached to the north side of the refectory. Icons are stored in a separate building north of the main temple, next to the chapel of the Assumption. Among other icons, the icon of the Virgin of Jerusalem is also kept here.

The rich library of the monastery also occupies a separate two-story building in the courtyard. About 1300 codes are stored here, of which 110 are written on parchment. It is worth noting that 600 codes are in Slavic. There are about 30,000 printed books in the library.

The monastery has two cemetery temples. The old church, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, was built in 1820, simultaneously with the main temple of the monastery. It features a frescoed dome and a ridge in the basement. The new temple was built in 1896 and is a two-story building, which includes two temples, a ossuary and 2 independent cells. In its architectural style, it resembles Russian churches of the 19th century. The temple on the second floor is dedicated to the Holy Archangels, and on the first - to St. Seraphim of Sarov and St. Theodosius of Chernigov.

The old pier of the monastery was located a short distance from the monastery in the direction of the port of Daphne. It was destroyed by a hurricane in the 19th century. The new pier was a temporary wooden structure, preserved in this form until 1998. Then a stone structure was built at this place.

Icons

Particles of Relics

Honest Heads of the Miracle Worker Panteleimon, Evangelist Luke, Silwan of Athos, Rev. Martyr Stephen the New, donated in 1815 by the wife of Scarlet Kallimach (cantor of the Panteleimon Monastery) Domna Roxandra. Apostles Peter, Thomas, Bartholomew, Saints Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory of Niski, Tikhon of Zadonsky, Barsanuphius and Gury Kazan.

Located 15 km from Karei on the southwest side of the Holy Mountain.
  It was founded in the 10th century.
  Patronal feast - St. vmch Panteleimon.
  Rector - Archimandrite Jeremiah.
  It occupies the nineteenth place in the Svyatogorsk hierarchy.
  The brotherhood is 80 monks.

Monastery of St. vmch Panteleimon is located on the shore of the bay. The modern monastery of St. vmch Panteleimon is connected with three centers: the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary Xilurgu, the monastery of Thessalonica and, finally, with the monastery of St. Panteleimon.

The foundation of the monastery

According to the old Russian tradition, spread in the 16th century, the monastery of Our Lady of Xylurgy was founded by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince of Kiev Vladimir (960–1015) after the adoption of Christianity in Russia (998).

The monastery is mentioned in documents dating back to the 11th century. The monastery was located between the monasteries of Vatoped and Pantokrator, and was inhabited mainly by Russian monks. For this reason, the monastery was called the Monastery of Rossicon (or Rusik). In connection with the significant increase in the number of monks in 1169, the Holy Kinot, after the corresponding requests of the Rector of Lorenius, gave permission to establish the second monastery in the Thessaloniki monastery, which by that time had been abandoned by Greek monks. This monastery was located on the old road connecting Kareya with the current monastery. This place was also called "Nagorny" or "Old Rusik". In a new place, on a beautiful hill, in a dense forest, the brotherhood of the Russian monastery was 700 years old.

At the same time, cells were allocated to the Russian monks in Karey. As for the former location of the monastery (Xylurgu), it did not remain abandoned; a monastery dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos was built there. As follows from the signatures on the church documents of the abbot of Lawrence - “Father Superior St. Panteleimon of Thessalonica ”, - the monastery was dedicated to St. Panteleimon.

History of the Panteleimon Monastery: an early period

Little information has been preserved about the early period of the monastery. The reason for this, most likely, lies in the fact that a strong fire in the XIII century destroyed not only property, but also all documents. In the XIII century, the relations of the Thessaloniki monastery with Russia, suffering from the Mongol-Tatar invasion, were interrupted. Occasionally, saving from destruction, it was possible to export icons, manuscripts and church utensils from Russia. As a result, the brethren of the monastery replenished mainly by the Greeks. Confirmation of this can be found in the monastery acts, which the abbot of the monastery signs in Greek.

More details

Repeatedly help came from Byzantium. The role of emperors Andronicus II (1282–1328), John V (1341–1376) and Manuel II (1391–1425) of the Paleologists is especially noticeable. Here it was a question of transferring money and land allotments to the monastery with the corresponding letters of ownership. Later, the Serbian rulers provided comprehensive support for the monastery with money and donation of farmsteads for 142 years.

Serbian king Stefan Uros IV Dushan, after visiting the Holy Mountain in 1345, in addition to the versatile economic support of the monastery, promoted the appointment of the Abbot of the Serbian theologian Isaiah.

In 1509, the Serbian princess Angelina turned to Grand Duke Vasily III with a proposal to become his patron saint of the Thessaloniki monastery: "... All other monasteries have their worshipers, and this one is waiting for your mercy." Since the mother of Vasily III Sophia was the representative of the last Byzantine dynasty of Paleologists, the great Russian prince supported this appeal and became the official patron of the monastery of Thessaloniki.

In the 15th century, the Wallachian governors provided significant annual assistance to the monastery.

Panteleimon during the test period

After the liberation of Russia from the Tatar-Mongol yoke (mid-15th century), the number of Russian monks again significantly exceeded all the others in the monastery.

The period of Turkish rule subjected the Thessalonians monastery to serious tests. Sometimes the monastery was completely abandoned. In 1574–84, the monks were forced to leave the monastery, and the help of 500 rubles sent by Ivan the Terrible did not find a recipient. In 1591, the Russian patriarch Job, and in 1592 the Grand Duke Fedor Ivanovich, allowed collecting donations in Russia in favor of the Thessaloniki monastery.

However, in subsequent years, the situation has not changed for the better. A letter from the Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril I Lukaris (1620) states that “... the monastery is in a difficult situation, debts are growing, and for this reason the monks are sent to prison. The church and the walls surrounding the monastery are destroyed. Fathers are deprived of even the most necessary. "

This forced the Holy Kinot at the end of the 17th century to take the Russian monastery under its care.

Towards the end of the 18th century, the monastery, after a brief period of ascent, became impoverished again and was forced to pledge many of its land holdings and part of church utensils. The famous traveler and pilgrim V. G. Grigorovich-Barsky, during his first visit to the monastery (1727–1728), met here only two Russian monks and two Bulgarians, and during the second (1744) he did not meet anyone at all. This was the result of a continuous series of Russian wars with Turkey, when the influx of Russians to the Holy Mountain practically stopped.

As a result, the Greeks again settled in the monastery, who decided to leave the old buildings and move to the small Resurrection Church, built in 1667 by Bishop Christopher of Jeris on the seashore, where today is the current monastery of St. vmch Panteleimon or Rusik.

The history in the new place of the Russian monastery begins in 1765.

Monastery of St. Panteleimon in the first years of his founding adhered to an idiomatic arrangement, but in 1803 he was declared sociable by a special letter from the Ecumenical Patriarch Kallinikus.

The main assistance in the construction of the present monastery at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century was provided by the ruler of Moldavlakh, John Callimachus (1758–1761) and his successor, Scarlat Callimachus (1773–1821). The life of Scarlat Callimachus was closely connected with the monastery of St. Panteleimon. Being a translator at the Turkish Sultan Mahmoud II (1785–1839), he became very ill. And he managed to recover from a serious illness only after he had venerated the relics of St. vmch Panteleimon. These relics were delivered from the monastery to Constantinople by the abbot Savva Peloponnese, the first abbot of the monastery of St. Panteleimon. After his miraculous recovery and appointment to the place of the Wallachian ruler (1809–1819), as a token of gratitude, Scarlat Kallimach begins to finance the construction of the Cathedral Church, chapels, cells, hotels and hospitals. The end of the life of the Greek philanthropist was tragic: an angry Turkish crowd in 1821 hanged him along with Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V.

Noting the charity and great services of the Kallimach family to the monastery, which lasted until the start of the Greek National Liberation Revolution of 1821, the Ecumenical Patriarch Kallinik V in 1806 renamed the monastery of St. Panteleimon into Kallimahidon (Kallimakhov Monastery) by special decree.

It is important that the monastery of Thessalonians survived, but later received the name Old Rusik and today belongs to the monastery of St. Panteleimon as a monastery.

Russian Orthodox Church and Rusik

With the beginning of the National Liberation War of 1821, the monastery fell into decay again. But, starting in 1840, the monastery again began to receive monks from Russia, the number of which increased so much that they began to make up the majority. In 1875, Russian monks for the first time in this period in the history of the monastery elected Makarii Sushkin to be rector, and the monastery became completely Russian. By the end of the 19th century, the number of monks of the Panteleimon Monastery was about 2,000 people (with a total population of Athos community of 10,000).

In the XIX - early XX centuries, the Russian Orthodox Church was a reliable pillar of the monastery.

For the shelter of Russian pilgrims visiting St. Athos, the monastery had courtyards in Odessa and Constantinople. Through the Odessa Compound, the monastery was visited annually by up to 30 thousand people. As a control measure, a letter of recommendation from the corresponding diocesan authorities was used.

Substantial help and support to the monastery, in addition to the Holy Synod, was provided by the Russian government and the imperial family (in the amount of about 100 thousand gold rubles annually). In 1845, 1867 and 1881, the monastery was visited by Their Imperial Highnesses, respectively, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich.

The monastery conducted active scientific and educational activities, published the journal "Interlocutor" and had its own printing house with a staff of 30 people.

Panteleimon: recent history

After the 1917 revolution, in addition to the fact that all material assistance and the flow of monks from Russia completely ceased to come here, communist ideologists did not even allow themselves to think about relations with Athos, and the guarantor countries of Athos' international status were extremely suspicious of all newcomers from Russia. And a slight replenishment lasted only at the expense of Russian emigrants living in Western Europe. The communist government in Russia confiscated all the property of the Panteleimon Monastery (courtyards, shops, etc.). Moreover, she did everything possible to ensure that the President of Turkey Kemal Atatürk in 1924 handed over the courtyard of the monastery of St. Panteleimon in Constantinople "friendly Soviet state" in exchange for broad economic, military and political support.

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The difficult economic situation of the monastery of St. Panteleimon was further aggravated by the strong fires of 1927 and 1968.
Only in 1948, Patriarch Alexy, in the framework of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the proclamation of the Patriarchate in Russia, manages to establish contacts with representatives of the Greek Church invited to the anniversary celebrations. One of the questions that interested the Russian patriarch concerned permission for the arrival of Russian monks on Athos. It was only in 1970 that Archimandrite Abel and the monk Vissarion received permission from the Soviet and Greek authorities to come to the Holy Mountain. Archimandrite Abel managed not only to gain the trust and respect of the Greek monastic fraternity (a difficult matter for that time), but also to become, in 1975, after a rather long break, hegumen of the monastery of St. Panteleimon. From 1979 to the present, the rector of the monastery has been Archimandrite Jeremiah, who turns 99 in October 2014.

Panteleimon today

Currently, the monastery is undergoing major repairs of the dilapidated structures of the monastery. For restoration work, a group of restorers from St. Petersburg, Kiev, Vladimir arrived here, and significant funds were donated by philanthropists of Russia and Ukraine. The Russian government has allocated 1 billion rubles for restoration work. The Greek government has provided and is providing substantial assistance.

Monastery Cathedral

From an architectural point of view, the monastery is distinguished by the absence of fortifications characteristic of other Athos monasteries. Multi-storey buildings intended for a large fraternity surround the old compact center - a square building with the main Cathedral Church, which began to be built in 1812 and completed in 1821. The Cathedral Church is dedicated to St. Panteleimon and resembles other Athos cathedrals.

Read more about the architecture of the monastery

The walls of the cathedral are built of hewn rectangular stones, and 8 onion-like domes with characteristic crosses rise above the roof. The chapels of the monastery also have the same domes. Inside the monastery is painted in the XIX century with frescoes made by Russian artists. The Russian work is also the richly decorated iconostasis of the temple. In accordance with the decree of 1875, chants during the service are conducted in two languages \u200b\u200b- Greek and Church Slavonic. This tradition continues to this day.

Opposite the entrance to the cathedral is the refectory of the monastery - a rectangular building, standing in the middle of the courtyard, which was laid in 1890 and painted with frescoes in 1897. About 800 people can be present at the refectory at the same time.

A belfry rises above the refectory facade, on which many Russian bells of various sizes hang (one of them has a circumference of 8.70 meters and a weight of 13 tons).

Chapels, cells and churches

In addition to the cathedral, on the territory of the monastery and beyond, there are a number of chapels. On the territory of the monastery is primarily the chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin, in which earlier the service was conducted in Greek. There is also a chapel of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh with the service in Church Slavonic. In the northern wing of the monastery are the Ascension Chapel, St. Sergius, St. Demetrius, Arkhangelsk, St. Gerasim, St. Konstantin and Elena, equapp. St. Vladimir and Olga and the chapel of St. Alexander Nevsky and Pokrovskaya with a richly decorated interior, a lot of figurative icons trimmed with gold and a gilded iconostasis.

In the south wing are two chapels - St. Savva and St. Nicholas.

Outside the monastery are two more chapels. One is St. Moscow metropolitans Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip - in the cemetery, the other - Preobrazhenskaya - in the current archonetarian.

The monastery also has 5 cells - St. Euphemia, St. Bessrebrenikov, Life-giving Source, St. Stephen and St. George. Cell of st. Stephen and St. George are in Karey, and the cell of St. George is a representation of the monastery.

In addition, the monastery of St. Panteleimon also owns the communal courtyard of Chromitsa or Khromitissa, near Uranopolis, the communal monastery of Xylurgu or the Virgin not far from the monastery of Pantocrator, Old Rusik, New Thebaid or Gurnoskit and Paleomonastiro (Old Monastery), which is currently closed.

Total churches in the monastery of St. vmch Panteleimon 25. Up to 40 churches outside the monastery in various places of the monastery land, in the hermitages and at the cells.

Monastery Shrines

In the Cathedral Church there are several parts of the Life-giving Tree of the Cross of the Lord and parts of St. relics of st. John the Baptist and the Baptist of the Lord, sv. prmch. Stephen New, St. prmts. Paraskevi, St. vmts. Marina, St. Joseph the Betrothed, St. Apostle Thomas, St. Simeon the Pillars, St. mch. George the Victorious, Demetrius the Myrrh-streaming, Jacob Persianin, Kirik, Tryphon, Eustratius, Nikita, Theodore Tyrone, sschmch. Charalampia. Here is a significant part of the stone, rolled away from the Holy Sepulcher, from which the menorah is made.

At the request of the Greek authorities, the miraculous relics of St. Panteleimon was brought to Constantinople in 1744, where the plague raged then. The holy healer once again showed his strength - the inhabitants of the city were saved from mortal danger.

In the same year, the Moldavian ruler John Nicolau made a similar request to the monastery when a plague epidemic raged in Moldova. After the miracle and healing of the sick, the ruler of Moldova appointed an annual allowance to the monastery, which was sent to Athos after his death.

In the chapel of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the relics of St. vmch Panteleimon, St. John the Baptist, St. app. Peter, Andrew, Luke, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew and Barnabas, First Martyr Stephen, St. Isaac of Dalmatia, Dionysius the Areopagite, Cosmas and Damian, Cyril, Tryphon and many others. Here is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Jerusalem", the icon of St. John the Baptist, an ancient icon of the Great Martyr. and the healer Panteleimon and the icon Kharlampia, a wonderful sacred chalice and a precious printed gospel are gifts of the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich who visited the monastery in 1845.

Library

The monastery library is very rich, located in a separate two-story building in the middle of the courtyard. About 1,320 Greek and 600 Slavonic manuscripts are stored here, as well as many sheets of parchment and paper codes. Of the many illustrated manuscripts, the gospel and sixteen Speeches of Gregory the Theologian stand out by the richness of their illustrations. In addition to the manuscript department, the library contains more than 20,000 printed books in Greek and Russian, including very valuable old editions.

Monastic life

In the monastery, the rules that have been established by the Holy Fathers for the communal brotherhood since ancient times are observed: do not consider anything your own, but all have one thing in common. The services are long. They begin on ordinary days from midnight, and on Sundays, the twelve holy days and the feasts of the great saints are performed all night. In addition, the monks were assigned a cell rule, consisting of waist and earth bows. The brotherhoods, initiated into the great schema, are assigned a longer secret rule. Frequent confession and constant opening to the elders of heart thoughts is at the head of Athos monastic life.

Humility is considered its main virtue. The Holy Mysteries of Christ, according to ancient custom, all the brethren receive communion weekly on Saturdays, or on the occasion of the week. On weekdays, in their free time from the service, the brethren engage in labors, appointed in relation to the strength and abilities of everyone.

For the most part, the meal consists of grown vegetables. Fish is offered only on holidays. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, meals are once a day and without oil. Exceptions are holidays.

Synodics are arranged in the monastery, in which the names of the brethren and benefactors are entered for eternal commemoration at the proscidium of the Divine Liturgy, and in one of the churches an unbroken reading of the Psalms on the deceased fraternity and benefactors, and on the health and salvation of the living, is established for eternal time. According to ancient guides, the brotherhood of the monastery of St. Panteleimon numbered about 3,000 people, currently there are about 80 monks in the monastery.

Monastery of St. Panteleimon is located on the shore of a small bay in the southwest of Mount Athos between Daphne Marina and Xenophon Monastery.

The first Russian monastery on Mount Athos was founded during the time of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and was called the monastery of the Virgin Xilurg. In the second half of the XII century, due to the large number, the brethren moved to the monastery of Nagorny Rusik, and at the end of the XVIII century the monks moved to the seashore in the monastery with the Church of the Ascension of the Lord on the site of the present Panteleimonov monastery.

In the XVIII century. the monastery passed to the Greeks. The return of the Russian monks began in the 30s. XIX century The heyday of the monastery falls on the late XIX - early XX centuries. In 1912 the brethren of the monastery totaled up to 1800 people. After the revolution, due to the severance of ties with Russia and the systematic ousting of Russians from the Holy Mountain, the number of brethren began to decline rapidly. In the late 1960s. Only 7 elderly monks remained in the monastery. At present, there are more than 100 people with novices.

Multi-storey buildings, designed for a large fraternity, surround the older center, located in the form of a rectangular building, with the main cathedral church of St. Panteleimon, where the head of St. vmch Panteleimon and other saints.

In the second cathedral church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, located on the top floor of the large fraternal building, the relics of the Monk Silwan of Athos are stored. Here is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, called the "Jerusalem", the icon of St. John the Baptist, an ancient icon of St. vmch Panteleimon and the icon of the holy martyr Charalampius.

The third temple was consecrated in honor of St. Metrophane of Voronezh. The monastery also houses a small church in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a church adjacent to Pokrovsky in honor of the Holy Grand Dukes: Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir and the Righteous Alexander Nevsky. In addition to these temples, there are several chapels (paraclises). In one of them, between Panteleimon and Pokrovsky cathedrals, the relics of St. John the Baptist, the apostles Peter, Andrew, Luke, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew and Barnabas are stored; the first martyr Stephen, Isaac of Dalmatia, Dionysius the Areopagite, the disinterested Cosmas and Damian, Cyril of Jerusalem, Tryphon and many others.

Near the monastery is the so-called ossuary - the tomb with the church of St. supreme apostles Peter and Paul.

The monasteries of the Assumption of the Virgin (Xylurg), Old Rusik, New Thebaid and Kromnitsa (Krumitsa) are attributed to the Panteleimon monastery.

From 1979 to 2016 he was abbot of the monastery.

On October 2, 2016, the election of the new abbot of the monastery took place in the Russian monastery at Athos Panteleimon Monastery. The new abbot was Hierodeacon Eulogius (Ivanov).

October 14, 2016 at the Divine Liturgy in the Panteleimon Monastery of Hierodeacon Eulogius in the rank of Hieromonk.

Intronization of the newly elected abbot of the monastery of Hieromonk Evlogius with the elevation of Archimandrite to the rank of October 23, 2016

O. Evlogy (in the world Ivanov Mikhail Nikolaevich) was born on October 12, 1958 in the Chelyabinsk region. He was tonsured in the mantle in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra on November 25, 1985. He was ordained hierodeacon on December 23, 1986 in the same place. He entered the Panteleimon Monastery on May 15, 1988. Obedience took place at the monastery courtyard in Istanbul.

Orthodox spiritual and educational portal about Russian monasticism on Mount Athos - http://afonit.info.

To all pilgrimage and tourism organizations involved in sending pilgrims to the Holy Mount Athos:

1. The Russian monastery on Athos Panteleimon, a pilgrim who wants to visit the monastery and worship its shrines, provides free accommodation in the monastery for a day, subject to availability. During his daily stay in the monastery, the pilgrim can participate in all monastery services and meals, relax in the monastery’s archondarik, worship the shrines stored in the monastery (including the honest head of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon and other relics), leave memorial notes, visit the sights of the monastery and the monastery shop.

2. You can reserve a place in the monastery’s archondarica either personally or through a pilgrimage organization or travel agency, by sending your passport data (in a specially established form) to the Panteleimon Monastery Pilgrimage Service to the email address: [email protected].

3. If the pilgrim wishes to stay in the monastery for more than one day, he must indicate in his application for visiting the monastery addressed to the monastery’s Pilgrimage Service the days of his obedience.

4. If the pilgrim intends to visit other Athos monasteries, hermitages and cells, then he should take care of his overnight stay there himself, having previously reserved a place for himself in these monasteries.

5. The pilgrim himself or through travel agencies must take care of obtaining a visa to enter Greece. The Pilgrimage Service of the Panteleimon Monastery is not involved in the processing of such visas and their extension.