In post 2057 I showed the first courtyard of Xenofontos monastery (the red A on the map below).
Today we will take a closer look at courtyard B, that lies between the old and new katholicon (A and Aα).
Plan of Xenofontos monasteryThis is photo is shot at spot B3/A, with the old katholicon on the right and the East wing with cells in the background (building H). From here to the left the protecting wall E1 starts.Turning the camera to the left (North), the wall continues uphill. Building N in the middle is (or used to be) the chandlery. Right from this building there is another gate.Building N, the chandlery, and wall E1. The gate leads to the Eastern part of the monastery. Inside this gate are the mill stones and the old instruments to press and make olive oil (Rankin & Demas Smyrna).
Building N and the new katholicon (Aα) Turning the camera 180 degrees: the old katholicon. The next picture shows us the white building you see here on the right (B3).Building B3, the Synodical offices and the fountain B1.Detail of building B3: beautiful brickwork and a relief/sculpture with a rams head above the entranceA stone above the entrance door with a greek text: was this building erected 17th of March 2001?The fountain with the double headed eagle of Byzantium and a mosaic with three deer drinking under a orange treeThe open cistern (B7) and building Γ1 – the old kitchen (now in the first courtyard A building Γ)The open cistern and the old katholicon in the backgroundNext to the open cistern two stairs go down. In the background the gate Eastern in the wall.The broader stairs on the right lead us to this wall painting and to remnants of old clay potsThe wall painting: a crowned Panaghia with the Child Jesus in a garden, surrounded by Light, Angels and buildings and a church in the topThe narrow stairs on the left leads down to……this lower situated corridor, with numerous old oil vessels or potsIn the middle of the corridor, under a tower: more old vesselsAt the end of the underground corridor, a stone stairs goes up Looking upwards to the balconiesThe tower-like building above the underground corridor, with two chapels inside: ϒ, upper level, the Dormation of the Mother of God and δ, lower level, Ioannis Theologos.The building with the two chapels ϒ and δ. This part of the monastery is being restored with the help of ESPA/the EU in 2014-2020 for € 9.412.260,00.A relief with text from 1809 in the wall, difficult to translate “[…] Agiou Ioannou Theologos 1809”, the chapel on the lower level
This is the translation of the last photograph: “1808 June 7th + Divine Temple [=Church] of Saint John the Theologian 1808”.
The first “1808” is in archaïc Greek numbers. In a Western context, we’d write “MDCCCVIII” for “,αωθ’ “
I made the same comment on Saturday, but something went wrong. In my opinion the year should be 1809, because θ means 9. Also the shape of the first 8 and the almost empty last figure suggest not an 8 for both.
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This is the translation of the last photograph: “1808 June 7th + Divine Temple [=Church] of Saint John the Theologian 1808”.
The first “1808” is in archaïc Greek numbers. In a Western context, we’d write “MDCCCVIII” for “,αωθ’ “
Thanks Bertinos! Wim
I made the same comment on Saturday, but something went wrong. In my opinion the year should be 1809, because θ means 9. Also the shape of the first 8 and the almost empty last figure suggest not an 8 for both.
@vasilis: oeps, juist.
8 is η