In the 19th century

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Monastery experienced difficult times. After the outbreak of the Greek Revolution (1821), Turkish troops were stationed on Mount Athos and committed atrocities. Thanks to the activity of Archimandrite Anatoly of Zograf, the Monastery managed to recover. In 1849, it became once again a cenobitic monastery, after having been idiorrhythmic for a period under Ottoman rule. Towards the end of the 18th century, the monastic brotherhood increased, and with it arose the need to build a larger Katholikon, which took place in 1801. By the middle of the century, a school had been established at the monastery, and with monastic help, as well as the assistance of Vasil Aprilov and Nikolai Palauzov, many Bulgarian children were sent to study in Russia. 

Although located on the distant Mount Athos, the Monastery has always maintained a living relationship with the believers in the world. It was favored by Bulgarian and Russian kings, Byzantine emperors, Moldavian voivodes, as well as by faithful people. In return, it itself has favored all of them with the light of Christ’s truth and grace, with prayerful intercession, and with Christian enlightenment that extends throughout the Balkans and beyond.

Compiled by: Georgi Mitov