Monastery of Kaisariani - Kaisariani - Greece - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

GENERAL (pic. 2) The monastery of Kaisariani lies on an advantageous natural site on the mountain of Ymettos. In the literary sources, it ;a referred to as Kaisariani or Syrgiani, but the exact origin of its name has been under discussion. The first centre or Christianity was located on the low hill of the Cemetery of the Fathers, where there can still be seen the remains of an early Christian basilica and of a church of the 10th c. , as well as the church of Ag. Marko,. ( Frankish period), and church of the Taxiarches, 17th. c. The monastery was founded during the 11th c. The buildings of the monastery are developed within a high wall, having two gases one on the eastern and one on the western side. At the external eastern side of the wall there is a source that spouts water through an archaic ram's head (in its place today stands a replica. During the Ottoman occupation, the monastery was named after this sculptured heal as Kots Mpasi (ram's head). The monastery was directly subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and was financially independent due to the land it owned and the profits from the production of the famous honey of the mountain Hymettos. it had a rich library and attracted many people of culture and members of known noble Athenian families, such as the Benizeloi and the Misseraliotai. By the decree of x8,.3 c4" the Regency, the monastery was dissolved. The first major effort to restore the monastery of Kaisariani took place during the 1950s with the contribution of the Prtileciassild'Enosi Athinon and since then, the maintenance and restoration of the mourns, are carried out by the responsible services of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
KATHOLKON — CHAPEL Or ADIOS ANTON!OS (plc. 1) The main church of the monastery, the katholikol, is dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin to the Temple and it was built in the late 11th c. beginning of 12th c. It is across-in-square, four-column church and its walls are built in the cloisonné masonry. The dome is octagonal and is run by a horizontal cornice. Initially, there was no narthex and the main entrance was located at the west side of the church, while a second-entrance was opened at the north side, where the wall of the cross arm are accentuated en the ciotside supporting a deep limestone arch. In the northern yard there is the underground barrel —vaulted ossuary of the monastery.ln the 17th c. the domed narthex, at the west, and the barrel-vaulted chapel dedicated to Agios Antonios, to south of the katholikon, were added. -The wall paintings which decorate the interior of the katholikon are dated to the beginning of the 18th c. and were math, by an anonymous artist. The oldest wall painting remaining goes back to the 14th t. and ran be seen on the north wall of-the chapel of Ag. Antonios, depicting the Mother of God Praying (Theotokos Deomeni. The narthex is also decorate° with wail paintings that, according to the inscription over the entrance, were made in the year 1682 by the Pdopon-nesian artist loannes Hypatos at the expense of the son of loannes benizeics.

REFECTORY — KITCHEN (pic. 3) To the west of the katholikon there is the post Byzantine complex of the refectory. It is an independent elongated building having two entrances at its east side. The northern one leads to the refectory, where the rnonks had their dinners. The main dining room is I.,arrei - vaulted, rectangular ;n plan with three blind, slightly pointed arches along the wails. The seat of the abbot was placed towards the northern enci of the room, where a smak niche is constructed in the wall. The smaller room to the south, is a hall used as a buttery for the storage of fno..i, as it is shown by the positions 'of placement of storage jars.-in addition, it separates the dinning room from the kitchen. The kitchen occupies the csuin part of the complex. It is square in plan and from its saucer dome raises the chimney. Placed in the centre of this room, there is the hearth fcs:, Me preparation of the food. Traces of an earlier refectory have been found at the same site and in the same axis of the complex that stands today, BATHING INSTALLATION (plc. 4,5,5) The baths of the Monastery lay to the south of the katholikon and are contemporary with the katholikon (latelith c. - beginning of 12thc.) It is a domed building surrounding a natural spring, built in the cloisonné masonry. During the post Byzantine period the baths were enclosed by a building complex of various construc-tion phases and it was used as art olive-press. The dome of the bath was revealed only in the 50's derp,:!z•v:I;en restoration works Were in progress at the monas-tery. The baths of the monastery of Kaisariani follows the basic architectural pOar ur the roman baths, a type that can be distinguished till the ottoman baths. The basic parts of every bath are the changingreem 'Z.restibuiurn, apodyterium), the warm room (tepidarium), the hot room (caldarium) and the cold room (frigidarium), in each of whith the visitor enters following this order. The heating-of the parts is accomplished by an underground heating system that allows the heat from the fire to circulate mainly through the floors. These are rest on pillars (pilae) constructed from discoid or square bricks, is is the case of the hypocqust of the bath of the Kaisariani. The existence of the middle byzantine baths in the monastery of Kaisariani, one of few that exists in 6reece, is of great importance and confirms the statutory establishment of the monasteries. • • • . CELLS—TOWER OF THE BENIZELOI (plc. 7;8;940) " The blocks of ce4, namely the rooms where the monks lived, are preserved along the south side of the enclosure and date back to the post Byzantine period. The main row of cells is arranged in a two-storey wing along the south side of the wall, divided by a rectangular structure, known as the ToWer of the Benizeloi. • The cells are almost identical; small arched rooms. Each one has an'entrance, a window and a small opening for extra lighting and ventilation of the room. In the Wall it is opened a niche for use as a cupboard or icOnoltasis..The ground floor of the western wing houses today the ticket offices ofthe site Major restoration works of the Wings of the cells took place in the 50s accardinglo a plan ...f the Russian monk Barikir(1745). His plant, shows the presence of a wing of cells above the baths Tracei of this wing were discovered in excavations conducted in 1998 by the 1st Ephoiate of Byzantine Antiquities. The tower of the Benizeloi is a scAre In plan building. The ground floor and the second floor are 4arrel-vauiteci while a saddle-roof covers the tower. There lived the son of loannes Benizelos With mqther his sisters and their suite; when they came to the monastery. of Kaisariani by the fear of the plague which at that time had fallen over Athens.
•
HELLENIC MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

Group that erected the marker: HELLENIC MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Kesariani 161 22, Greece

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   04/23/2018 CADS11 visited it