Xeropotamou Monastery

One of the oldest monasteries on Mount Athos is Xeropotamou Monastery, located at an altitude of 200 meters near the port of Dafni on the western coast of the peninsula.It was founded by the venerable Agios Pavlos (Xeropotamites), the son of Emperor Michael Rangabe, in the late 10th century and thrived during its early centuries of operation thanks to financial support from the Palaiologos dynasty and later from Serbian rulers.

Throughout its historical journey, the monastery experienced periods of prosperity as well as destruction, both from pirate raids and fires, with the most notable ones occurring in 1280 and 1507. In the second half of the 18th century, it experienced significant growth when its distinctive Catholicon (1761-1763) was built, featuring impressive frescoes by the iconographers Konstantinos, Athanasios, and Naoum of Korçë, as well as around 200 portable icons.

Xeropotamou Monastery preserves the largest piece of the True Cross in the world, measuring 31 centimeters in length and featuring a visible hole from the nail. Additionally, an important relic is the Disc of Pulcheria, a donation from the empress herself. The monastery's reliquary houses the sacred relics of the 40 Martyrs, to whom the monastery is dedicated, four episcopal staffs made of electrum, gold-embroidered vestments, vessels, a part of the Crown of Thorns, and a part of the gifts of the Magi. The library holds 20 parchment codices and a total of 409 manuscripts, as well as over 4,000 books.

Among the sixteen chapels of the monastery, seven are located within the main complex, and five of them are adorned with frescoes. The monastery celebrates the memory of the 40 Martyrs on March 9th.