Stavronikita monastery

Stavronikita

Σταυρονικήτα
Southeast view of the monastery
Location within Mount Athos
Monastery information
Full name	Holy Monastery of Stavronikita
Order	Ecumenical Patriarchate
Dedicated to	Saint Nicholas
Diocese	Mount Athos
People
Founder(s)	Nicetas (or Stavronicetas) Nicephorus
Prior	Archimandrite Elder Tykhon
Site
Location	Mount Athos, Greece
Coordinates	40°16′04.74″N 24°16′36.24″E / 40.2679833°N 24.2767333°E / 40.2679833; 24.2767333Coordinates: 40°16′04.74″N 24°16′36.24″E / 40.2679833°N 24.2767333°E / 40.2679833; 24.2767333
Public access	Men only

Stavronikita Monastery (Greek: Μονή Σταυρονικήτα, Moní Stavronikíta) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece, dedicated to Saint Nicholas. It is built on top of a rock near the sea near the middle of the eastern shore of the Athonite Peninsula, located between the monasteries of Iviron and Pantokratoros. The site where the monastery is built was first used by Athonite monks as early as the 10th century. Stavronikita was the last to be officially consecrated as an Athonite monastery in 1536 and ranks fifteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries and currently has 30 to 40 monks.

There are various conflicting traditions and stories regarding the monastery's name. According to one Athonite tradition, the name is a combination of the names of two monks, Stavros and Nikitas, that used to live in two cells at the site before the monastery was built. Another tradition recounts of a Byzantine army officer serving under the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes, named Niceforus Stavronikitas that built the monastery and named it after himself. Yet a third tradition attributes the foundation of the monastery to a patrician by the name Nikitas. The patrician's name day according to the Eastern Orthodox calendar of saints is celebrated the day after the Feast of the Cross. Hence according to this tale the monastery got its name by combination of the patrician's name with the word "Stavros" (the Greek word for cross).

Apart from the traditional name, in some old documents the monastery is referred to as "Monastery of the Theotokos", which implies that the monastery was initially dedicated to the Theotokos. A more often encountered alternative name is "Monastery of Stravonikita" which is a corruption of the original name.