Hilandar monastery
| Χιλανδαρίου | |
External view of the monastery.
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 Location within Mount Athos
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| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Holy Monastery of Hilandar |
| Order | Serbian Orthodox Church (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople) |
| Established | 1198 |
| Dedicated to |
Three-handed Theotokos (Virgin Mary) The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Saint Sava and Saint Symeon |
| Site | |
| Location | Mount Athos, Greece |
| Coordinates | 40°20′46″N 24°07′08″E / 40.346111°N 24.118889°ECoordinates: 40°20′46″N 24°07′08″E / 40.346111°N 24.118889°E |
| Public access | Men only |
The Hilandar Monastery (Serbian Cyrillic: Манастир Хиландар, pronounced [xilǎndaːr], Greek: Μονή Χιλανδαρίου) is the Serbian Orthodox monastery in Mount Athos in Greece. It was founded in 1198 by first Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church Saint Sava and his father and founder of the Nemanjić dynasty Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, who upon relinquishing his crown, took monastic vows to become ordinary monk Symeon in Hilandar. This monastery represents a focal point of Serbian religious and secular culture, as well as "the first Serbian university". It is ranked fourth in the Athonite hierarchy of 20 sovereign monasteries. The Mother of God through her Icon of the Three Hands (Trojeručica), is considered the monastery's abbess.
Etymological meaning of "Hilandar" is probably derived from Greek word chelandion, which is a type of Byzantine transport ship, whose skipper was called "helandaris".
The monastery was founded in 1198 when, prompted by the Mount Athos monastic community, Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos (1195–1203) issued a golden sealed chrysobulls donating the ancient monastery Helandaris, "to the Serbs as an eternal gift...," thereby designating it, "to serve the purpose of accepting the people of Serbian descent, who seek to pursue the monastic way of life, as monasteries belonging to Iberia and Amalfi endure on the Mount, exempt from any authority, including the authority of Protos." Hilandar was thereby handed over to Saint Sava and Saint Symeon with the purpose of establishing and endowing new monastery, which was elevated to the imperial rank. Since then, the monastery became a cornerstone of religious, educational and cultural life of Serbian people.
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