Skete of St. Andrew

The Skete of Saint Andrew, also the Skete of Apostle Andrew and Great Anthony or Skiti Agiou Andrea in Karyes is a monastic institution on Mount Athos. It is a dependency of Vatopedi Monastery and is the site of the Athonias Ecclesiastical Academy.

The Skete (a smaller, dependent monastic house) had its origins when Patriarch Athanasius II of Constantinople retired to Mount Athos in the mid fifteenth century after the Fall of Constantinople and settled in a Monastic House on the site of the old Monastery of Xistrou that was dedicated to St. Anthony the Great. This house later became the foundation of the Skete. In 1761, Patriarch Seraphim II of Constantinople also retired to Mount Athos and replaced the old house with a new building that he dedicated to the Apostle Andrew as well as St. Anthony.

In 1841 Seraphim's house was given by the Monastery of Vatopaidion to two Russian monks, Bessarion and Barsanouphios. Initially known as the Cell of St. Anthony, in 1842, the monastics, under the sponsorship of Tsar Nicolas I of Russia, began expanding their residence. With its expansion, Patriarch Anthimus IV of Constantinople recognized the St. Anthony Cell as a Skete in 1849. The Skete was called that way because the customs and statute of Mount Athos precludes the establishment of new monasteries besides those of the Byzantine era.

With the continued growth of the Skete in monastic numbers, a central church, dedicated to Saint Andrew, was built in 1867 and consecrated in 1900 by Patriarch Joachim III of Constantinople. The church is the largest on Mount Athos and is amongst the largest in the Balkans.

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