John Chrysostomos born 347 – 14 September 407, was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is honoured as a saint in many religions. The feast days of John Chrysostomom in the Eastern Orthodox Church are 14 September, 13 November (today) and 27 January. His skull and right hand are kept as relics in Vatopedi monastery. Some chapels om Athos are dedicated to this saint.

This is the kellion of St. John Chrysostomos, a large chapel and some buildings. Monks are walking around. This is a very nice print of the kellion, I found on the Mount Athos Heritage site. It used to be a Russian settlement in Kapsala not far from Karyes and Sk. Andreou.

From a distance the kellion/chapel looks like this nowadays. It is in complete ruins. This happened with a lot of Russian settlements when, after the revolution in 1917, the influx of monks stopped.

The chapel, all though in a very bad condition, is still standing upright. The neighbouring buildings are gone except for a few walls.

When my brother Wim visited the destroyed settlement he went inside the chapel and made pictures. A few years later I visited the same spot but didn’t what to take the risk of entering the dilapidated building.

Creepers who has to be almost a hundred years of age, are slowly crushing the stones.

It makes me sad to think that the chapel will collapse in a couple of years and that these remains of the Russian monks then will be buried under the stones and debris of the chapel.

Herman Voogd (photo’s also by Wim Voogd)