Dionysiou Monastery () is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

at the monastic state of

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 ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, at the southwest part of the Athos peninsula. The monastery ranks fifth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. It is one of the twenty self-governing monasteries in Athos, and it was dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

History

The monastery is named after Saint , who founded it in the 14th century. Dionysius' brother was the metropolitan of

Trebizond Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid Em ...

, whose ruler

Alexios III Komnenos Alexios III Megas Komnenos (; 5 October 1338 – 20 March 1390), or Alexius III, was Emperor of Empire of Trebizond, Trebizond from December 1349 until his death. He is perhaps the best-documented ruler of that country, and his reign is distingui ...

was the main benefactor of the monastery during its founding. His

chrysobull A golden bull or chrysobull was a decree issued by Byzantine emperors and monarchs in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Description A golden bull was a decree issued by Byzantine Emperors. It was later used by monarchs in Europe ...

from September 1374 is currently kept in the archives of Dionysiou Monastery. A passage from the chrysobull states that: By the end of the 15th century, the Russian pilgrim Isaiah confirms that the monastery was Serbian. The library of the monastery housed 804 manuscripts and more than 4,000 printed books. The oldest manuscripts come from the 11th century. Today the monastery has a community of around 50 monks.

Notable people

Nephon II of Constantinople Nephon II of Constantinople (''Nifon II'' (; ; died 11 August 1508), born Nicholas (Νικόλαος), was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople three times: from 1486 to 1488, from 1497 to 1498 and for a short time in 1502. He is honored as a ...

* Saint Joseph of Dionysiou (d.

17 February Events Pre-1600 *1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau. * 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of ...

1819) * Arsenios the Cave Dweller (resident from 1980–1983)

Partial list of abbots

* Dositheos of Dionysiou (abbot until 1936) * Elder Gabriel Dionysiatis (or Gabriel of Dionysiou, 1886–6 November 1983), Abbot of Dionysiou Monastery for 40 years during the mid-1900s * Elder

Haralambos Dionysiatis Archimandrite Charalambos (Galanopoulos) of Dionysiou (or Haralambos Dionysiatis, ; 1910 in Russia – 1 January 2001 in Dionysiou Monastery, Mount Athos) was a Greek Orthodox Christian monk who served as the abbot of Dionysiou Monastery from 197 ...

(or

Charalambos of Dionysiou Archimandrite Charalambos (Galanopoulos) of Dionysiou (or Haralambos Dionysiatis, ; 1910 in Russia – 1 January 2001 in Dionysiou Monastery, Mount Athos) was a Greek Orthodox Christian monk who served as the abbot of Dionysiou Monastery from 197 ...

, 1886–6 November 1983), Abbot of Dionysiou Monastery from 1979 to 2000 * Peter of Dionysiou (current abbot)

Manuscripts

Codex Athous Dionysiou Codex Athous Dionysiou, designated by Ω or 045 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 61 ( von Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament. The codex is dated palaeographically to the 9th century. It has marginalia. Description T ...

= Uncial 045 (Ω) *

Uncial 050 Uncial 050 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), Cι1 ( von Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, written on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 9th century. Formerly it was labelled by O or We. Descriptio ...

Gallery

File:Ιερά Μονή Διονυσίου.jpg, Interior File:Dionysiou Monastery Codex 90.jpg, Dionysiou monastery, codex 90, a 13th-century manuscript containing selections from

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

and (shown here)

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek ph ...

File:Ο Αλέξιος Γ’ Μεγάλος Κομνηνός 1349-1390 με τη σύζυγο του Θεοδώρα σε μικρογραφία του κτιτορικού χρυσόβουλλου της Μονής Διονυσίου του.jpg, Chrysobull of

Alexios III of Trebizond Alexios III Megas Komnenos (; 5 October 1338 – 20 March 1390), or Alexius III, was Emperor of Trebizond from December 1349 until his death. He is perhaps the best-documented ruler of that country, and his reign is distinguished by a number of ...

References

External links

Dionysiou monastery at the Mount Athos website

Greek Ministry of Culture: Holy Monastery of Dionysiou
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dionysiou Monastery Christian monasteries established in the 14th century Monasteries on Mount Athos Greek Orthodox monasteries