Esphigmenou
| Εσφιγμένου | |
External view of the monastery façade from a nearby quay.
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 Location within Mount Athos
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| Monastery information | |
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| Full name | Holy Monastery of Esphigmenou |
| Dedicated to | Ascension of Christ |
| Diocese | Mount Athos |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Theodosius II & Pulcheria |
| Prior | Archimandrite Elder Methodius (Papalambrakopoulos) (de facto); Archimandrite Elder Bartholomew (Gazetas) (de jure) |
| Site | |
| Location | Mount Athos, Greece |
| Coordinates | 40°21′10″N 24°08′17″E / 40.352689°N 24.138053°ECoordinates: 40°21′10″N 24°08′17″E / 40.352689°N 24.138053°E |
| Public access | Men only |
Esphigmenou monastery (Greek: Μονή Εσφιγμένου) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece, dedicated to the Ascension of Christ. It is built next to the sea at the northern part of the Athonite peninsula. Located near the Hilandar monastery, it is the northernmost of all Athonite monasteries. The current monastery dates back to the 10th century, while tradition holds that the site had been used as a monastery since as early as the 5th century. Esphigmenou ranks eighteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries and since the early 1970s has been embroiled in legal and ecclesiastical disputes. This is the largest monastery on Mount Athos, with around a hundred monks.
In Greek, the monastery's name literally means tightened, and there are conflicting traditions regarding the origin of the name. One attributes it to the fact that the monastery is built on a stretch of land, tightened by three surrounding hills and the sea. John Comnenus, a 17th-century metropolitan of Drystra, wrote in his book Proskynetarion tou Agiou Orous tou Athonos:
It is called Esphigmenou because it is restricted by three small mountains, close to the sea.
Another tradition attributes the name to a monk who either founded or restored the monastery, recounting that he used to wear a tight rope around his waist, so from him the monastery got its name "of the tightened".
Athonite tradition attributes the foundation of the monastery to the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II and his sister Pulcheria during the 5th century. According to the same tradition this early monastery was destroyed by a huge rock that fell from the nearby hills. According to the same tradition its remains can still be found 500 metres from the existing monastery. Historical and archaeological evidence cannot safely confirm this tradition and therefore the precise time of the monastery's foundation, as well as its founders cannot be positively identified.
The evidence can however confirm that as early as the late 10th or early 11th century the monastery existed. It is mentioned in at least three manuscripts. The monastery is referred to in a letter by Saint Paul of Xeropotamou dating from 1016. The will of the monk Demetrius of Chalki, dating from 1030, is signed by a monk who calls himself "Theoktistos monk and abbot of Esphigmenou monastery". Finally, the monastery is mentioned in the second Typicon of Mount Athos in 1046.
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Wikipedia