As long as I have been visiting Karyes I always wondered what this big ruined building – with a church – looked like. In October last year I finally could take a closer look (also to a nearby small house – see plans and pictures below).
Karyes – 27/9/2009: In the front/centre: the large building with a ruined church.
The small picture is from 3/5/2007: the same building from a different angle.
First I will show you where the building is located on the Karyes map:
Here the large building with the church is coloured in red.
Another plan of Karyes with buildings in red (from the Zwerger map)
Just beside the large ruined building you can find a small house, that is still inhabited.
Front door of the small house with a Crucified Christ on the door and a rope to open it (and a text in Greek above the door).
Here you can see the large ruined building with the same church as shown above near the small house (church almost completely covered with creepers).
Church covered in creepers
Closing in on the large ruined building: everything looks oke, but when I had a look on the backside thing looked different!
Although there was a path, the backside of the building was totally overgrown. Almost all windows were smashed/removed.
The front door of the ruined building, with a cross above it. Luckily the year 1913 is still to be seen, although it won’t take long before this ornament will fall down. I believe this building must be build by Russians, not only because the year 1913, but also because of its architecture.
Inside the large building: rubbish and even some untouched windows, while the vegetation is trying to “eat” the building!
Then I tried to get a closer look at the church that belongs to the large building: the entrance to the church was already collapsed and overgrown by trees and bushes. It was to dangerous to go any futher, because the whole complex could fall down any time. I think it would not take long before this remarkeble building of Karyes will disappear forever.
The church with its dome of copper and some remnants of stainded glass.
Wim, 13/1
Ziet er gevaarlijk uit
Hallo,
Ik bezoek Athos in Juni van dit jaar (was er ook reeds 2 jaar geleden). Ik las op jullie weblog dat de grote ferry buiten dienst is en dat de kleinere boten moeten gereserveerd worden. Deden jullie dat vanuit Nederland of ter plaatse in Ouranoupolis ? Je mag een antwoord bij voorkeur rechtstreeks naar mijn e-mailadres sturen (cf. supra).
Alvast hartelijk dank !
Bart
As far I can tell (from a map) these buildings belong to the kelli of the Holy Trinity, belonging to the I.M. of Panteleimon. I did not have time yet to scrutinize all my Athos-litterature, but in any case the books ‘The Kellia of Karyes’ (Thessaloniki, 2004) and ‘Mount Athos’ (Athens, 1992, which deals about he architecture of the buildings – not the churches – on Athos, don’t contain any reference to this kelli. Only the known book of Fennell (‘The Russians on Athos’) mentions a kelli of this name, but that one belongs to Stavronikita. I think the problem is that a ruined kelli from the beginning of the 20th century is just of little interest to most people (not for us of course !).
The buildings are definitely Russian or Ukrainian. The cupola is inspired by the Ukrainian baroque cupolas, the crosses are exceptional for Greece but common for Czarist Russia, where it was also customary to secure crosses on cupolas by means of ornate chains.
By the way: the text above the door is not Greek, but Cyrillic. Unfortunately the photo is not sharp enough to see whether it is Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian or Serbian. The (modern) cross beneath it is Greek, though.