New Athos Monastery ( ka, ახალი ათონის მონასტერი, tr; ; , ''Novoafonskiy monastir’'') is a monastery in
New Athos
New Athos or Akhali Atoni is a town in the Gudauta Municipality of Abkhazia situated some from Sokhumi by the shores of the Black Sea. The town was previously known under the names Nikopol, Acheisos, Anakopia, Nikopia, Nikofia, Nikopsis, Absara ...
, municipality of
Gudauta, in a breakaway republic of
Abkhazia
Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...
(mostly internationally recognized as a part of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
). New Athos Monastery was founded in 1875 by monks who came from the
St. Panteleimon Monastery in
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism.
The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...
, with Mount Athos having been an important site for the Orthodox Church since 1054.
History
The unfinished monastery was looted during the Russo-Turkish War during 1877-1878, and the construction works for the monastery continued during the 1880s, with the structure finally being completed in 1900.
In the center of the western building, a building bell tower 50 metres (160 ft) high was erected. In the lower part of the bell tower, a monastic refectory is located. In the middle of the monastic complex stands the five-domed church of St. Panteleimon, in the architecture of which traits of the so-called
Neo-Byzantine style are discernible. The interior of the church is embellished with murals, painted between 1911 and 1914. St Panteleimon is the largest Cathedral in Abkhazia.
The monastery was closed between 1924 and 1994 due to the Soviet persecution of religion. After this point, the monastery returned to the Orthodox Church.
The monastery is currently used by the schismatic , while it is also claimed by the schismatic
Abkhazian Orthodox Church
The Abkhazian Orthodox Church (, ) is an Eastern Orthodox church outside the official Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical hierarchy. It came into existence when the ''Sukhumi-Abkhazian Eparchy'' declared on 15 September 2009 that it no longer consid ...
and thle
Georgian Orthodox Church
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonl ...
.
Current condition
New Athos Monastery was given the status of
Immovable Cultural Monument of National Significance in Georgia in 2006,
and Mount Athos as a whole was listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
in 1988.
Gallery
File:2014 Nowy Aton, Widok ze szczytu Góry Iwerskiej (09).jpg
File:Noviy Afon.jpg
Sources
* Cultural Heritage in Abkhazia, Tbilisi, 2015
References
{{Authority control
Religious buildings and structures in Abkhazia
Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia
Christian monasteries established in the 19th century