M Monasteries of the MR

Order of Precedence according to the ‘’Fourth Typikon’’, as amended: ineligible to provide the archimandrite

1. Saint Athanasios

• 963 - The first monastery on Mt. Athos is founded by Saint Athanasius.

2. Annunciation

• 979 - The monastery is founded by three monks, Athanasios, Nicholas, and Antonius from Adrianople, pupils of Saint Athanasios.

3. Saint John the Baptist

• 1379 - The monastery is founded by Blessed Dionysios.

4. Holy Cross

• 1169 - The monastery is founded by an unknown person. There is a later re-foundation in the 14th century by Koutloumous, a Seljuk convert.

5. Transfiguration

• 1358 - The monastery is founded by the brothers Alexy Stratopedarch and John Primikerij, officials of the Byzantine court.

6. Holy Archangels

• 993 - The monastery of the Holy Archangels is founded by Blessed Euthymius.

7. Sts. Peter and Paul

• 1014 - The monastery is founded by a monk named Karakalas.
• 1292 - The monastery is restored with the help of Emperor Andronicus II and Patriarch Athanasius I.
• 1440 - Because of pirate raids, the monastery is again deserted.
• 1544 - With the help of Prince John Peter of Wallachia (who later became a monk in the monastery) and the permission of Sultan Suleiman, the monastery is restored and given the exclusive right to harvest chestnuts on the Holy Mountain.

8. Saint Philotheus

• 995 - The Monastery of the Annunciation is founded by Blessed Philotheus.
• 1095 - On the centenary of the founding of the monastery the name of the monastery is changed to Saint Philotheus to honor the holy founder.

9. Presentation of Jesus

• 998 - The monastery is founded on the site of the hermitage of Blessed Paul, who had founded the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs.
• 1350 - The monastery is deserted.
• 1388 - The monastery is restored by the Serbian monks Gerasimus Radona and Antonios Pegases.

10. Saint George

• 975 - The monastery is founded by Saint Xenophon.

11. Theophany

• 1394 - The monastery is founded by Saint Gregory.

12. Ascension

• 1016 - The Esphigmenou Monastery is founded by an unknown monk.
• 1808 - A new katholikon is built as part of some general renovation. It is dedicated to the Ascension of Jesus, which gives the monastery its present name.

13. Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (Armenian)

• 990 - The monastery is founded by Blessed Paul, reputedly son of Michael I Rangabe.
• 1076 - The monastery is turned over to monks of the Armenian Orthodox Church, the first instance of a Greek monastery being turned over to non-Greek monks.
• 1821-30 - The monastery is occupied by Turkish troops.

14. Saint George the Painter (Bulgarian)

• 980 - - The monastery is founded by Moses, Aaron and John, three monks from Ohrid.

15. Saint John the Iberian (Georgian)

• 982 – The monastery is founded by Saint John from Iberia (Georgia).

16. Saint Sava (Serbian)

• 1198 - The Monastery of Hilandar is founded by Saint Sava for Serbian monks.
• 1253 - Saint Sava is canonized by the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian monks of Chilandar Monastery change its name to honor their founder.

17. Saint Panteleimon (Russian)

• 1058 - Monks from Kiev establish the Monastery of the All-Holy Theotokos.
• 1142 - The Kievan monks move their community to the deserted Thessalonikeos Monastery.
• 1169 - The Thessalonikeos Monastery is recognized as a monastery independent of Kiev.
• 1800-19 - The Russian monks build a new monastery closer to the shore, now the largest on the Holy Mountain.
• 1812-21 - The Russian monks build a new katholikon dedicated to St. Panteleimon, which gives the monastery its current name.

18. Saint Nicholas (Cambrian)

• 1022 - The monastery, the smallest of the twenty monasteries, is founded by Nicetas, an officer of Emperor John I.
• 1183 - The monastery is deserted because of pirate raids.
• 1194 - Cambrian monks land on the shore of the Holy Mountain and are invited to take over the deserted Monastery of Saint Nicholas.
• 1533 - The abandoned Stavronikita Monastery is sold to Gregorious Giremeriatis, a Thesprotian abbot.

19. Saint Maron (Maronite)

• 1066 - The monk Kastamonites founds the monastery of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr.
• 1307 - The fifteen remaining monks of the Monastery of Saint Stephen are transferred to the Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul. Monks of the Catholic Maronite Rite, fleeing the persecution of the Mamelukes are invited to occupy the Monastery of Saint Stephen, which they rename the Monastery of Saint Maroun.

20. Saint Thomas (Assyrian)

• 1257 - The Monastery of New Bethlehem is founded by Blessed Simon the Myrrhobletes.
• 1601 - The katholikon of the Monastery of New Bethlehem is built and dedicated to the Nativity of Jesus giving the monastery its new name.
• 1678 - The monastery is deserted because of heavy Turkish taxation.
• 1794 - Ioasaph of Mytilene arrives and begins the restoration of the Monastery of the Nativity.
• 1891 - The katholikon of the monastery is destroyed by fire and rebuilt in its present form.
• 1894 – The monastery is abandoned.
• 1994 - The Assyrian Church is invited to send monks to occupy the abandoned Monastery of the Nativity, which they rename the Monastery of St. Thomas.

Monastic Republic