Kaisariani Monastery - History

History

During the 11th century, Byzantium flourished in the arts thanks to the accession to power of an extremely enlightened dynasty, that of the Macedonians (867-1080). As the result of consecutive successful campaigns against various invaders, such as the Russians, the Bulgarians and the Arabs, the Macedonian Emperors managed to restore peace throughout most of the lands governed by Byzantium.

With peace thus insured, along with other art forms, architecture experienced a remarkable apogee. During this very period, a series of monasteries were built on the slopes of Mount Hymettus. Among them was Asterion Monastery, an exceptionally beautiful building, overlooking Attica from an altitude of 545 meters (1,770 feet) from a cavity on one of the slopes.

Then, in the 10th century, "St. John of the Hunters", also called the "Philosopher`s Monastery", was built on the north side of the mountain. The Monastery of St. John the Theologian, at the foot of Hymettus on the outskirts of Papagou and the Karea Monastery, above Messogia, were also constructed at approximately the same time.

However, the Kaisariani Monastery was the most renowned and the richest of all. There are no written testimonies about it before the Frankish occupation. Its apogee seems to have been between the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th . In 1204, Pope Innocent III submitted Kaisariani Monastery to the jurisdiction of the Latin Archbishop of Athens. When, in 1458, the Turks occupied Attica, Sultan Mehmed II went to the monastery and, according to Jacob Spon (1675), a French doctor from Lyon, that is where he was given the key to the city.

In 1678, Patriarch Dionysus IV defined the monastery as being Stavropigiki, that is to say, free and independent of the metropolitan bishop: its only obligation was to perform funeral rites. Later on, in 1792, Patriarch Neophytos VII retracted the monastery's freedom with a Bull; it was, once again under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of Athens. From 1824 onwards, the monastery was "submitted to abject treatment. What had previously been instrumental in enlightening mankind and saving souls, was now being used as a palace for cows, fowl and horses".

During its apogee, it had hosted many significant spiritual figures of the time, such as Theophanis in 1566 and Ioannis Doriano in 1675, the Abbot Izekel Stephanaki, who was knowledgeable in Greek literature and history, and more particularly, Platonic philosophy. From 1722 until 1728, Theophanis Kavallaris taught courses in grammar and sciences there.

Kaisariani Monastery's library was renowned and most probably owned documents from antiquity's libraries. According to the demogerontes (the council of elders) of the time, "the manuscripts were sold to the English as membranes whereas the rest of the documents were used in the metropolis` kitchens." During the Turkish siege of Athens, the manuscripts were transported to the Acropolis and were used to ignite fuses.

The fertile surrounding lands belonged to the monastery, as did various other holdings, such as St. John the Baptist, next to the Kaisariani road or those in Anavyssos.

The monks' income was substantiated by the produce from their olive groves, grape vines and beehives. In a letter, dated 1209, Michael Hionati reports that "the produce from the beehives was given to the Hegumen of Kaisariani Monastery. However, four years later, he complains about not having received any income from the monastery: the Abbot gave, as an excuse that the beehives had been destroyed. The monks were also renowned for concocting medicine from various herbs.