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THE
MOUNTAIN OF THE MONKS
I'RINTED BV
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NRW-STRKET SQt'ARK
LONDON
ATHOS
OR
THE MOUNTAIN OF THE MONKS
BY
ATHELSTAN RILPZY
M.A., F.R.G S.
Wi\i\i nnmcroas Ulnstrations
LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1887
L
Ail rights reserved
TO
MY DEAR AND VALUED FRIEND
THE REV. ARTHUR EDWIN BRISCO OWEN, M.A.
December i8
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Introduction i
CHAPTER 11.
Departure from London— A stiff Window — Bucharest— A
Funeral — Rustchuk — Varna— A Wedding — Arrival at
Constantinople 8
CHAPTER III.
Constantinople— St. Sophia — Dedication and Desecration
OF St. Sophia — Triple Walls — Seven Towers — Visit to
the (Ecumenical Patriarch — Proselytism — Ignorance
AS TO THE English Church 19
CHAPTER IV.
We LEAVE Constantinople — Cavalla — Archbishop of
Cavalla — Turkish Bargaining — Description of our
Party— Arrival at Athos— A terrible Supper . . 34
CHAPTER V.
Vatopedi— Athos Architecture — Cemetery— Courtyard —
Phiale— Description of an Eastern Church— Catholi-
CON— Relics— Miraculous Stories— Oriental Monasti-
ciSM— Ccenobite and Idiorrhythmic — Library— A theo-
logical Discussion . . . . . . . . .46
VUl CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI.
PACK
* Liturgy of St. Gregory Dialogos' — Road to Caryes—
Caryes — Government of Athos — The Holy Synod— An
imposing Reception — Circular Letter — 'God grant us
Unity ' -ji
CHAPTER VII.
Vatopedi — Semantra — A monastic Bather — Preaching-
Music— History OF the Monastery — Priories and Her-
mitages—Churches 90
CHAPTER VIII.
Departure from Vatopedi — Pantocratoros — Foundation —
Churches — Catholicon — Library — Ancient Book-cover
— We discuss < Filioque ' and Baptism — Clerical Mar-
riages— Abrupt Termination of the Discussion . . loi
CHAPTER IX,
Skete of the Prophet Elias — Russian Hospitality — Stav-
roniketa — History — Churches— The noisy Epitropos —
An appalling Supper— Levinges — 'Fair as the Moon' .114
CHAPTER X.
Stavroniketa — Catholicon — St. Nicholas — Myron — Li-
brary— An uneatable Cock — 'All Roman Priests are
immoral' — Iveron — Dish of Snails— History of the Con-
vent— Churches and Catholicon — The Portaitissa —
Library — St. Ewthym's MS. — Clock 125
CHAPTER XI.
Philotheou— The Glykophilousa— Catholicon and Library
—Foundation— Port of Lavra— The Lavra— Monastic
Curiosity— A Kelli— Foundation of Lavra— St. Atha-
nasius of Athos— Sketes, Hermitages, and Churches —
Catholicon— Reliquaries— John Coucouzele — Doubtful .
Legends 145
CONTENTS IX
CHAPTER XII.
PACK
Lavra— Library — The ex-Primate of Servia — An Anglican
Eucharist — Obstinate Lovers — Quietism — The Un-
created Light — Skete of the Prodromos — Cave of St.
Athanasius — Miraculous Icon 182
CHAPTER XIII.
The Prodromos— Self-convicted Slumberers — Dog-faced
St. Christopher — Monastic Time-table— Ascent of Athos
—Kerasia— Church of the Panaghia — We reach the
Summit— Chapel of the Transfiguration — Magnificent ^-^
View — Descent to Kerasia 204
CHAPTER XIV.
Road to Agios Pavlos — Monastery of St. Paul — The Her-
mit's Garden — Foundation of St. Paul's— Catholicon,
Relics and Treasures— Skete of St. Anne — We leave
the Archbishop — Monastery of St. Dionysius— Catholi-
con— St. Niphon — Library — Foundation . . . .216
CHAPTER XV.
Monastery of St. Gregory — Library and Churches — Row
to Russico— a devoted Lover — The Russian Question-
Russian Colonization of Athos— History of Russico—
Foundation of St. Eli as and of the Serai— Russia and
England 235
CHAPTER XVI.
Russico— My Lord Abbot— Bone-house — Great Service —
Library — Churches — Xeropotamou — Foundation —
Catholicon— Relics and Treasures— Churches— Ride to
Carves— The Serai— Coutloumoussi— Rat-oil— Gregory
the Son of Demetrius . . . . . , .. .251
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XVII.
PAGE
The Postmaster of Carves— The Protaton— Panselenus—
School of Painting— The Serai— Head of St. Andrew-
Cemetery and Bone-house— Photographing in Carves—
Faith and Miracles 271
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Caimacan — Departure from the Serai — Ride to
Caracalla— Benighted — The Monks suspect Treacherv
— Foundation of Caracalla— Catholicon and Librarv
— B.ACK TO Russico— Curious Service — Vener.\tion of
St. Marv 287
CHAPTER XIX.
Slmopetr A— Romantic Situation— Churches and Founda-
tion-Return TO Xeropotamou— The Archbishop per-
forms the Office of a Dragoman — Return to Russico—
Bishop Nilos— State Visit to the Abbot .... 308
CHAPTER XX.
The Archbishop's Mass— Xenophou— Churches— Catholi-
con AND Relics— The missing Volume— Caught in a
Storm— Docheiariou — Catholicon— The Gorgoypecoos
— Foundation — The Archbishop favours us with a
Song 325
CHAPTER XXI.
Ride to Constamonitou—* Where's my Cloak'— Founda-
tion OF CoNSTAMONiTOU— Catholicon— Churches— Give,
and it shall be given unto you 343
CHAPTER XXII.
ZoGRAPHOu— Foundation— Picture of the Painter— Mira-
culous Icons— Six-and-Twenty Martyrs— Return to
Vatopkdi Great Service— Skete of St. Demetrius-
The Archbishop's Revenge— Esphigmenou—P'oundation 352
CONTENTS XI
CHAPTER XXIII.
PAGE
Catholicon and Relics— St. Agathancelos— Library— Trea-
sury— Churches— Chiliandari — History and Churches
—Catholicon — The Three-handed Panaghia — Library —
Farewell to the Archbishop — Back to Vatopedi . .371
CHAPTER XXIV.
Final Departure from Vatopedi— Xeropotamou — The Athe-
nian Professors— Russico— We leave Athos — Sail up
THE Gulf— Xerxes' Canal— St. Nicholas — Monastic
Farm-house — Salonica— Calais — Conclusion . . .385
APPENDIX.
\. The Dispersion of the Wood of the Cross . . 405
IL Greek Ecclesiastical Music 406
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
{Mostly engraved from the Author's photographs.)
FULL-PAGE PLATES.
Phiale at the Lavra Frontispiece
All the Monasteries (from a monastic engraving) To face p. 34
The Lavra (from a monastic engraving) . . . „ 188
Monastery of St. Paul „ 217
Monastery of St. Paul (from a monastic en-
graving) „ 220
Monastery of St. Gregory (from a monastic
engraving). ........ ,,238
Monastery of SiMOPEiftiA „ 309
Interior of Catholicon at Docheiariou . . „ 336
WOODCUTS IN TEXT.
The Holy Mountain (from a Russian print) . Title-page
PACE
Courtyard of Vatopedi 49
Group of Monks and Phiale at Vatopedi .... 94
Monastery of Pantocratoros 102
Ancient Book at Pantocratoros 106
XIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Portion of the Eastern Shore of the Promontory,
WITH StAVRONIKETA IN THE FOREGROUND, AND MOUNT
Athos IN THE Distance . ii8
IVERON 131
Monastery of Philotheou 148
Port of the Lavra 153
The Lavra 159
Courtyard of the Lavra . . , ... . .161
Cave of St. Athanasius, with the Hermit . ... 200
Monastery of St. Gregory 235
High Street, Carves 283
Caracalla 292
Monastery of Simopetra 313
Monastery of St. Xenophon 326
constamonitou 344
Our Cavalcade 359
Monastery of Chili andari 379
Plan of an Eastern Church 52
Map OF Athos \ . . . At tJie e7id
KEY TO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE
MONASTERIES.
PAGBS
PACES
Vatopedi . . 43-100, 359-365
Xeropotaniou
258-262
Pantocratoros
101-I13
Serai ....
277-287
Prophet Elias
II4-I17
Coutloumoussi .
264-269
Stavroniketa
I18-I30
Protaton
272-276
Iveron ....
130-144
Caracalla .
289-299
Philotheou .
I45-151
Simopetra
309-314
Lavra ....
153 197
Xenophou .
327-333
Prodromos .
197-208
Docheiariou .
335-342
St. Paul.
217 224
Constamonitou .
347-351
.SV. Anne .
224-227
Zographou
352-358
St. Dionysius .
* 228-234
St. Demetrius
366
St. Gregory
235-238
Esphigmenou .
368-375
Russico 241 258, 300-30
7, 317 325
Chiliandari
376-382
MOUNT ATHOS.
CHAPTER I.
The sanctuary of the Greek race, which is in a great degree the
sanctuary and refuge of the whole Eastern Church, is Athos — ' the Holy
Mountain.' — Stanley's Eastern Church.
Three years ago an Improvement in railway connection
placed Constantinople within five days of Paris. The
Oriental express running direct from the capital of
France to the ferry across the Danube at Rustchuk,
in communication with a train to Varna and a steam
packet sailing thence to Constantinople, enables the
traveller to undertake with but little difficulty a jour-
ney to the great metropolis of the East, and, if he be
of the more adventurous sort, to prolong his voyage
to the maritime cities of Asia Minor, or wander along
from island to island in the Greek Archipelago. Few
more delightful journeys than these can he undertake,
and few will so repay him in refreshment of both mind
and body ; for in Oriental Europe there are still to
be found secluded paths, fresh scenes, and many an
untouched mine of rich and varied interest, whilst over
all there hangs that soft and dreamy Eastern charm,
quite indescribable and only to be appreciated by those
who have at some time revelled under its delicious
influence.
If ever, reader, you should be fortunate enough to
E
2 MOUNT ATHOS
undertake such a journey, as you pass through the
blue waters of the ^gean on your way from * The
City ' to Athens, you may chance to see, if the weather
be clear and your eyes open, as it were a high and
rocky island lifting itself out of the waters far away
on the northern horizon. You ask one of the ship's
officers to tell you what it is. He replies, * The Monte
Santo,' the Holy Mountain. If you can draw into
conversation that Greek sailor who, with shaded eyes,
is gazing so earnestly over the sea, and ask him to
supplement this meagre information, he will call upon
you to bless God that He should have permitted you
but to cast your eyes from a distance upon so holy a
spot, the Agion Oros, the Mountain of the Hermits
and the Saints.
Yes, the island to the north is but the peak, rising
above the horizon, of lofty Athos, the very centre of
the Eastern Church, the proud Christian fortress that
has never yet yielded to the infidel, but has preserved
its independence through three long centuries of
Moslem rule, the one spot to which every Orthodox
Eastern, from sultry Egypt to the icy shores of the
White Sea, turns his eyes, as the nursery of all
holiness and the impregnable fortress of the Christian
faith.i
' There are about a hundred millions of Christians belonging to the
Holy Orthodox Eastern Church. Those who divide Christendom into
Protestants and Roman Catholics will do well to remember this vast body
of Christians who stand aloof from both, protest against the Papal pre-
tensions as much as any Protestants, and yet reject the novelties of the
sixteenth century, appealing, as the Church of England does, to antiquity
and the inspired decisions of Christ's Undivided Church. Amidst our
endless religious controversies in the West it is something more than a
relief to turn to this great Church, which has been all the time far removed
from the questions which trouble us, whatever difficulties she may have
had of her own.
INTRODUCTION 3
You cannot see more of Athos if you would, for
the swift steamer hurries you along without a stoppage
until you reach the capital of modern Greece, where
you will find that the excursion would mean a voyage
to Salonica and a forced stay in that town, probably
extending rather over weeks than days, before an
opportunity occurred of transporting yourself to the
monastic shores. An out-of-the-way place, indeed,
and it is well that it should be so, for the very diffi-
culty of access affords the chief protection to the
monastic life ; and when the long-projected railway
connects Salonica with Europe, and brings the eager
tourists to the threshold of the Holy Mountain, the
guardians of the sacred shrines will do well to add to
the severity of their laws and increase the jealousy
which guards their borders.
From the south of Macedonia there stretches into
the ^gean Sea an irregular tract of land about the
size of Norfolk, bounded on the west by the Gulf of
Salonica and on the east by that of Contessa, these
being known anciently by the respective names of the
Thermaic and Strymonic gulfs, and the projecting tract
of land itself as Chalcidice. From the southern, or,
to speak more accurately, the south-eastern side of
Chalcidice three promontories of almost equal length
run side by side into the sea, the easternmost being
that of Athos, the others known as Longos and
Cassandra, but the three anciently as Acte, Sithonia,
and Pallene. The promontory, or rather the peninsula,
of Athos (for not far from its base, at the spot where
Xerxes cut his canal, it measures but a mile and a
half across) is long and narrow, having an average
breadth of about four miles, whilst its length is forty.
B 2
4 MOUNT ATHOS
A ridge of hills runs down the centre of the peninsula,
beginning from the narrowest part near its base and
reaching some height where the monastic establish-
ments commence, at a distance of fifteen to twenty
miles from its extremity. From this point the ridge
rises gradually from i,ooo to between 3,000 and 4,000
feet, when it suddenly shoots up into a mountain
nearly 7,000 feet high ^ and falls into the sea. There
is but little level land on Athos ; the sides of the
central ridge slope as a rule down to the very shore,
whilst round the end of the peninsula, especially on
the western side, the mountain drops by rapid descent
or breaks away in steep and rocky cliffs. Every part
of the promontory is covered with vegetation, the
east side being the more conspicuous for luxuriance
of growth ; and its position in the waters keeps the
forests of Mount Athos fresh and green when all the
neighbouring country on the mainland is burnt up by
the summer and autumnal heats. The mountain is
one vast mass of white or whitish-grey marble, clothed
with trees to within a thousand feet of its summit and
then rising in a bare and conical peak. From the top
can be seen the islands of Thasos, distant thirty miles ;
of Lemnos, forty (upon which the shadow of Athos
is said to fall as the sun sets^) ; of Samothraki, sixty ;
and on a clear day the Thessalian Olympus, distant
ninety miles ; whilst, on the other hand, it can itself be
seen from the shores of Asia Minor on the plain of
Troy.
Round the shores of Athos stand the twenty ancient
monasteries to which the whole peninsula belongs, and
' Various heights have been given, from 6,349 feet to 6,900.
■* "A^ws aKui^fi fwra Arjfivias fioos. — Sophocles.
INTRODUCTION 5
which form the monastic republic of the Holy Moun-
tain. The origin of this ecclesiastical state is lost in
the obscurity of centuries. When the hermits first
chose this romantic spot, and when they first were
gathered into monasteries, is uncertain ; but though
the establishment of religious houses by the great
Constantine may be a myth, we have evidence of the
existence of hermits on Athos for the last thousand
years ; ^ we know that the founder of one monastery
lived in the tenth century, and another convent was
restored nine hundred years ago. Comparatively few
vicissitudes have befallen this strange community since
its foundation ; the Latin conquerors of Constantinople,
it is true, pillaged the monasteries in the thirteenth
century, but by the lavish support of succeeding Greek
emperors it not only recovered but soon surpassed its
former estate. Passing from the jurisdiction of the
Christian emperors to that of the Ottoman, it alone
preserved its self-government and its ancient privileges
when all the rest of the Byzantine Empire was crushed
beneath the feet of the victorious infidels. At the be-
ginning of the present century the War of Independ-
ence brought heavy burdens on many of the convents,
and the confiscation of their lands first in free Greece,
then in the Roumanian provinces in 1865, inflicted a
heavy blow upon their fortunes. But now the com-
munity seems to have again recovered, to have made
good its losses, to be increasing in numbers, and to be
extending its establishments, and, with the exception
of the universal want of learning, which seems to date
from an epoch not much posterior to the Turkish Con-
^ By a document of the Emperor Basil in the year 885.
6 MOUNT ATHOS
quest,^ when arts and humanities fled from the East
to find a home in Western Europe, the Holy Moun-
tain appears to be in much the same condition as it
was in the Middle Ages.
Such is Athos, a land of great and varied beauty, a
mountain and a garden in the sea. If it please you
we will together wander up and down this eastern
fairyland, peep into its venerable religious houses, talk
to their grave inhabitants, and examine the treasures
which centuries have heaped together within their
walls ; we will refresh ourselves with a visit not only
to another clime but to another century, and we will
seize upon this one changeless spot as a solitary mark
by which to take our bearings when all the world and
we within it have drifted to and fro upon the ever-
varying tide of human restlessness. There is some-
thing of fascination in this thought, is there not ?
But stay ! Do not promise too rashly. My com-
panion must be of chameleon temperament, and able
to change at will from grave to gay and gay to grave ;
for there is in all connected with Athos a strange mix-
ture of grotesqueness and religion, so much that forces
merriment from Western travellers, whilst as we laugh
the mysterious power of the Christian faith on the spot
devoted to its cultivation checks the motion of our
thoughts and leads them into other channels. And so,
though we jog on like any other travellers, and crack
our jokes and curse our bed and board, yet we shall be
* ' Les Grecs des sus-dicts monasteres estoyent le temps pass^ beaucoup
plus doctes qu'ils ne sont pour I'heure presente. Maintenant il n'y en a
plus nuls qui s^achent rien ; et seroit impossible qu'en tout le mont Athos
Ion trouvast en chaque monastere plus d'un seul Caloiere sgavant.' — Les
Observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouv^es en
Grece, Asz'e, Indde, Egypte, Arabie et autres pays estranges. Par Pierre
BelonduMans. Anvers, 1555.
INTRODUCTION 7
pardoned if sometimes a touch ignite a train of thought,
out of place in any other journey save that across a
land saturated through and through with the energy of
faith, for we will quench the flame as speedily as we
may and trudge again along the proper and accepted
track of statistics and description. My companion
too must be one able to leave all prejudices behind,
and be content to reflect on what he sees, and, may be,
sometimes learn a thing or two from those poor folk
whom the world despises and contemns, the humble
and illiterate peasant monks, possessed of nothing save
a dauntless hold upon the ancient faith of Christendom.
Such companions are hard to find ; there are but few
to whom a journey to the Holy Mountain will bring
any profit or even pleasure. Perhaps, dear reader,
you are one of these few ; if so, will you come ?
MOUNT ATHOS
CHAPTER II.
The love of Greece, and it tickled him so
That he devised a way to go.
Old Song in ' Monsieur Thomas.^
On Friday, July 20, 1883, at twenty minutes to eight
A.M. I left London for Bucharest. I was to travel
alone, for it had been arranged that my companion
should follow in the course of the next thirty-six hours
and join me in the capital of Roumania. That night
I slept at Cologne, putting up at that most comfortable
house, the Hotel du Nord.
Starting the next day at noon, I passed the night
in the train, was turned out at the early hour of four
o'clock on Sunday morning to pass the custom house
at Passau, and reached Vienna at half-past ten.
The remainder of this day I passed pleasantly in
the Austrian capital ; went in the evening to Schon-
brunn, and lay that night at the Hotel Metropole.
On Monday, July 23, I left Vienna at 3.30 p.m. to
travel direct to Bucharest. All went well until after
passing Pesth ; only two other men were in my com-
partment, and I was looking forward to a comfortable
night, when at ten o'clock we were invaded by an old
gentleman, his wife, and his daughter. Our compart-
ment was now complet ; paterfamilias occupied the
seat in front of me, and the mother, who was of such
proportions that she had had considerable difficulty in
A STIFF WINDOW 9
squeezing through the doorway, filled, or rather over-
flowed, the seat on my right. Presently the daughter
complained of the draught, and the old gentleman shut
the window. At the end of a quarter of an hour the
atmosphere of the carriage became perfectly unen-
durable to me, although none of my fellow-travellers
appeared to be uneasy.
What was to be done ? I could not insist upon
fresh air in the face of the majority, so I determined
to try what politeness would effect. Seeing that the
mother was endeavouring to compose herself to sleep,
I offered her my air cushion to support her head, and
under cover of this small courtesy, which was accepted
with bows and thanks, in Hungarian, I pointed to one
of the ventilators and proposed by signs to open it.
' 1st good ?' said I.
* Good ! ' replied the old gentleman ; and opened
it was.
Still the heat and stuffiness were intolerable — it was
a sultry July evening, remember — and I began to cast
about for a new relieT. Just then we happened to stop
at a station.
* Szegedin,' said the old gentleman to his family.
* What ! ' said I, a brilliant idea occurring to me,
* Szegedin ? '
* Szegedin,' repeated he.
Down went the window in an instant, and out went
my head. It was pitch dark, and of course under any
circumstances there was nothing to see. As the train
moved off I proceeded to shut the window, as in duty
bound. It was a very unfortunate thing, but the win-
dow would not quite shut. Whereupon the old gentle-
man hastened to assist me, and we both pulled and
lO MOUNT ATHOS
pushed with apparently equal earnestness. Finally
we both desisted, with mutual smiles and shruggings
of shoulders. Triumph number two, ventilation se-
cured, and I soon fell into an innocent slumber. Late
in the evening of the next day I reached Bucharest,
and put up at the Hotel Otteletchano, a comfortable
house, with fairly reasonable prices for a town where
everything is dear.
Bucharest is a city of gardens in a flat plain, in
character half Russian, half Oriental. The Dimbovitza
runs through the midst of it, a river highly praised by
the native poets.
Dimbovitza, apa dulce.
But when I had the pleasure of gazing upon this
renowned stream it bore a strong resemblance to a
very large ditch filled with singularly dirty water.
On the farther side of the Dimbovitza stands the
metropolitan church of Bucharest, on the top of a
considerable eminence. There is nothing in the
church itself to repay one for the toil of climbing the
steep ascent, but from the platform outside one gains
a really fine and comprehensive view of the town,
which looks its best from this point. The meanness of
its buildings is not discernible, whilst one's eye rests
with pleasure upon the expanse of white houses, green
gardens, and the many domes of the churches and
monasteries ; some painted in the brightest colours,
others plated with sheets of tin, which light up brilliantly
under the cloudless Eastern sky. One of the things
that most strikes the English traveller in Bucharest is
the degraded condition of the women of the lower
classes, who are employed literally as beasts of burden.
BUCHAREST I I
When I was in the town building and rebuilding were
taking place on a very large scale, and in every street
women and girls of all ages, and burnt by the sun to
every shade of brown and black, might be seen mixing
mortar, or painfully carrying loads up inclined planes
to the top of scaffolding, where their lords and masters
were engaged in slowly and deliberately putting the
bricks into their places. It is exceedingly unfair to
judge of a people from a hasty visit to their country,
more especially if that visit be to their capital, where
a nation usually exhibits its worst side ; and, indeed,
the Roumanians do not appear to be very proud of
their chief city, if the following proverb rightly ex-
presses their sentiments towards it : ' Here flowers
have no smell, men no honour, women no virtue.'
Still, without pretending to estimate their national
virtues or their national vices, one cannot help noticing
that miserable desire to imitate French manners and
customs which seems to have taken root throughout
the East^ especially in the little Balkan States which
have just begun to toddle by themselves. Unable to
distinguish between the good and bad of mores Galliciy
eager to hide their rude native characteristics beneath
the veneer of Western civilisation, the men of the
upper classes copy the vices, the women the fashions
of the West. French architecture is transplanted into
countries where it looks ridiculous ; French republi-
canism tinges the politics of nationalities but just
emancipated from tyrannous despotism, whilst the
common people keep more or less to the customs of
their fathers, unable to appreciate exotic manners and
caring little or nothing for political freedom.
Thus one class losing touch with the other, division
12 MOUNT ATHOS
arises, and patriotism is either sorely injured or alto-
gether extinguished.
Whilst walking about the town the day after my
arrival I suddenly came upon a large funeral pro-
cession, evidently that of some person of consideration,
as two mounted soldiers rode in front to clear the way.
They were followed by an undertaker dressed in a
black suit trimmed with gold lace and a cocked hat,
carrying a basketful of unlighted candles. Then
came a second undertaker, bearing a disc of painted
cardboard, and two more behind him carrying another
disc between them, all three being attired similarly to
the first. After the undertakers came four carriages,
each containing two priests ; then a fifth, in which were
seated two deacons, one of whom bore an episcopal
staff in pjeces ; a closed carriage followed, in which was
the prelate. All these ecclesiastics were in full vest-
ments. Then came two horse undertakers, dressed
like their brethren on foot. A mounted undertaker is
an odd idea, I admit, but very gallant these gentlemen
looked nevertheless on their prancing steeds, support-
ing by hand and stirrup long poles with swinging
lanterns at the ends, like a pair of sepulchral lancers.
A quire of men and boys followed, chanting dolefully :
these were in ordinary dress. Immediately behind
them came the hearse. It was much more like a
circus car, for the canopy over the coffin was sup-
ported by four wooden knights, nearly life size, clad
in complete armour and richly gilt. A red pall covered
the coffin, and on it, surrounded by wreaths of flowers
and evergreens, was the deceased's best tall silk hat.
Wreaths and ribbons of the Roumanian colours hung
round the car and its canopy. Four horses, each led
DRINKING-WATER 1 3
by a footman carrying a candle, drew the hearse, and
on the box there sat a gentleman in a cocked hat with
a large white plume nodding over his eyes. In the rear
of the procession were fifteen male mourners on foot, one
carriage in which rode the chief female mourners, and
eight other vehicles containing the friends and relatives
of the deceased. I noticed that all in the streets un-
covered when the hearse passed, and some saluted the
bishop in a similar fashion. I must confess that I had
considerable difficulty in preserving the gravity of
countenance proper to the occasion.
No, I do not find the water of the Dimbovitza
palatable !
Undeterred by the sight of the river to-day or by
its ominous colour in the carafe this evening, I have
tried it, but I do fiot appreciate the flavour. On an
appeal to the head waiter he tells me, with a fine and
undisguised contempt for my taste, that everybody, in-
cluding the King, is only too glad to have the chance
of drinking the water of the Dimbovitza, that all the
aerated beverages* are made of it, and that no other
water is obtainable unless I like to pay a franc and a
half for a bottle of imported Apollinaris ! I end by
drinking my wine undiluted.
The next day, Thursday, July 26, O — arrived,
bringing the good news that he had succeeded, though
with great difficulty, in persuading the customs
officials at the various frontiers that the five her-
metically sealed tins of photographic dry plates (to
open which would have been, of course, destruction)
did not contain tobacco, dynamite, or other contraband
articles. The following morning we rose at half-
past three o'clock, in order to catch the 5.15 a.m.
14 MOUNT ATHOS
train for Varna. There was some doubt as to the
station from which the train started, but on the autho-
rity of * Bradshaw ' and our landlord we were persuaded
that the right station for Varna was the one known as
* Philarete.' To * Philarete ' we accordingly went, and
reached it at four o'clock, congratulating ourselves on
being in such excellent time. There were only two
men about, one of whom was washing what we supposed
was our train, but neither of them could speak any
but their native language. Time passed on, and, as
at five o'clock no other officials had appeared and the
ticket office had not yet opened, we began to sus-
pect that something was wrong, and our worst fears
were confirmed a few minutes afterwards by our seeing
the express crossing a distant junction on its way to
Varna. It had left the other station.
We roused the slumbering station master, who
soon appeared, half-dressed, and through the medium
of some execrable French we drew from him the ex-
planation that there had been a recent alteration, owing
to the establishment of the Oriental express, so that
now travellers bound for the East started from the
arrival station instead of having to drive across Bucha-
rest. Of course the landlord of the Otteletchano
must have known that he was sending us to the wrong
station, and he no doubt expected to see us back again
to spend three more days under his roof; so we vowed
that he should not profit by his iniquities, and de-
termined to devote the three days to visiting other
places on our route.
There was a train leaving for Giurgevo at half-past
seven, and this we resolved to take, as it would give
us an opportunity of seeing Rustchuk, the second town
RUSTCHUK 15
of Bulgaria and celebrated in the late Russo-Turkish
war. In four hours we arrived at this place, situated
on the Danube, across which there is a steam ferry to
Rustchuk. On board the steamer we made a frugal
meal, which we had hardly finished before we arrived
at the Bulgarian shore. The instant we had dis-
embarked we found ourselves surrounded by a crowd
of men and boys, all eager to carry our luggage. One
grabbed one thing and one another, which we hastily
snatched back and piled up on the quay. Finally we
seized upon the best looking of the party, who spoke a
little Italian, and put ourselves under his guidance ;
the crowd was then cuffed and kicked in various
directions, and three Turks were selected to carry our
baggage into the custom house. The dry plates
proved the only obstacle to our speedy release ; finally
these had to be bought with backsheesh, and we
then drove in a carriage over a bad road to a miser-
able place that called itself an hotel.
Rustchuk is not a prepossessing place. Whatever
it was before the war, it is now most dilapidated and
poverty-stricken. The streets are mere sandy tracks
except in places where they appear to have been
paved at some remote period and still preserve a few
odd stones. Wooden houses of one storey totter on
either side, and here and there a half-ruined mosque
reminds one of the late rulers of the town. A palace
had just been built for the Prince by a Bulgarian mer-
chant. It stands on the high bank overlooking the
Danube, and bears a striking resemblance to an English
suburban villa. We walked in at the open door and
inspected it ; for it was not quite finished, although a
soldier was keeping guard and the Bulgarian standard
floated proudly over the roof.
t6 mount athos
We visited the chief church, which, however, hardly-
repaid our trouble, and, as we were assailed by myriads
of fleas, we soon made our escape. As we passed
through the doorway the guardian of the church ad-
vanced and sprinkled our hands with lavender water
from a silver bottle. Our guide (the youth we had
picked up on landing) then conducted us to the princi-
pal mosque, into which he contemptuously strode with
some other Bulgarians, trampling over the matting
without removing his boots. A few Turks were say-
ing their prayers, and it was curious to see how the
conquered race did not even deign to notice the insult
they were powerless to avenge. Truly the tables are
turned in Bulgaria, and all the Turks that can afford to
do so have left the country.
Our dinner was abominable this evening ; the
steak which our landlord had provided for us was like
leather, and so gritty that we wondered if it had been
accidentally dropped in the sandy street outside. Our
bedroom also was full of vermin, and we were not
sorry when the time came to bid farewell to Rustchuk,
which we did early the next morning, taking the
7.30 A.M. train for Varna, The landlord had very
foolishly brought the bill to the station, thinking, no
doubt, that, in the hurry of departure, the amount, equal
to what one might have paid with grumbling at a first-
rate hotel in Paris for a night's board and lodging,
would have been handed over to him without much
difficulty. But we were his match, for, O — having
duly registered the baggage, I called for the bill, and
on observing the total simply turned the paper over,
made up my own account on the back, item by item,
at fair prices, added it up, and presented the sum to
VARNA 17
our host. He recognised that he was beaten, for he
quietly pocketed the money without a murmur.
It is a golden rule worth remembering when
travelling in these countries : If you intend to dispute
your bill, see that your luggage is safely out of the land-
lord's chUches ; he has then but little hold on you.
The railway to Varna lies through a flat, uninte-
resting country. Before reaching the coast the line
passes through a large marsh ; tall reeds shut out
the view on either side and even brush against the
carriages. Varna itself is situated at the mouth of a
long arm of the sea, and is a clean and flourishing town
with a population of about 20,000 souls. We reached
the terminus at 4.30 p.m. and drove at once to the
Hotel de Russie. The room allotted to us was com-
fortable enough, but on asking the price we found it so
enormous that we instantly demanded a cheaper apart-
ment. This was declared impossible, but we argued
the point and reminded the landlord that we were not
in an European capital.
' No,' said he, ' hut, you see, this hotel must be
supported, and no one would ever stay here unless he
had missed the steamer, as you have done.'
This, I dare say, was true enough. However, we
came to terms at length, and I am bound to say we
were very well treated during our stay. We had a de-
licious bathe that afternoon, although we unfortunately
managed to choose a spot where the rocks were most
painfully sharp. The next day being Sunday we went
to the Church of St. Athanasius, and found a wedding
taking place. In the centre of the nave were the
bride and bridegroom before a desk upon which was
placed the Book of the Holy Gospels. They had
I 8 MOUNT ATHOS
wreaths or crowns of orange blossoms on their heads,
and stood clasping each other's hands. In front of
them was the bishop, who officiated ; behind them an
old clerk held two lighted candles adorned with twisted
bands of muslin. Two priests and several readers,
standing in stalls, chanted at intervals. The day was ter-
ribly hot and the church pretty well filled with people.
One kind lady friend occupied herself with fanning the
bride, and at intervals an old man went up behind the
happy couple, and removing first the bride's crown and
then the bridegroom's, mopped their streaming faces with
a handkerchief, replacing the orange blossoms after the
performance of this kind office. Towards the conclu-
sion of the ceremony the relatives and friends kissed
first the Gospels, then the bishop's hand, and finally
the newly married couple on both cheeks.
When the service was over the people rushed out
of church and formed a procession to conduct them to
their home. This was headed by two fiddlers, a man
with a clarionet, and two other men playing instru-
ments resembling guitars, but struck with a quill in-
stead of the fingers ; and a curious noise this Bulgarian
band made. On the Monday we left Varna by the
Austrian Lloyd steamer ' Ceres ' at 3 p.m., and early
next morning, after a calm night's voyage, passed the
ancient Cyanean rocks and entered the Bosphorus.
We were not long in steaming down that enchanting
stream ; we were soon abreast of the Castles of Europe
and Asia, and a few minutes later, off the village of
Candelli, the distant view of Constantinople burst upon
us, the dome and minarets of St. Sophia rising above
the green cypresses of the Seraglio gardens. At 8 a.m.
we cast anchor in the Golden Horn.
19
CHAPTER III.
Costantynoble is a full fayr Cytee, and a gode and a wel walled, and
it is three cornered. And there is the most fayr Chirche and the most
noble of alle the World : And it is of Seynt Sophie. — Sir John Maunde-
VILLE.
With a description of Constantinople a volume could
be filled, and if one were to spend a twelvemonth in
the imperial city, and, having visited the ordinary
sights, were to search amongst courtyards and gardens
and dive into cellars and modern Turkish houses in
quest of the antique and the historic, not one but many
volumes would have to be written to treat of those
relics of departed Byzantine glory which are to be
found beneath the dust of Stamboul.
As for ourselves, we are bound for another place ;
we cannot afford to waste time on our journey thither,
so I shall be accorded grace, I am sure, if I touch but
briefly upon a city which demands something more
than a passing notice.
We have visited the Hippodrome, have seen the
Delphic column and the obelisk of Heliopolis ; we
have descended into the great hall called the Thousand
and One Pillars, formerly the cistern of Constantine ;
we have strolled through the bazaars, jostling with
every kind of Asiatic and delighted with the sight of
wares brought from every part of the world. There
are no bazaars like those of Constantinople, none one
C 2
20 MOUNT ATHOS
quarter the size, none so rich in the products of both
East and West, for here alone do both civiHzations
meet.
Constantinople was no new ground to me, so I had
the pleasure of being a cicerone to my friend. Acting
upon the experience of my first visit, I arranged that
we should see the other great mosques before that of
St. Sophia ; as the latter furnished the inspiration for
the architecture of those built after the conquest, and
far surpasses them in almost every particular, one's
interest is better kept up by reversing the usual pro-
cedure of travellers.
The exterior of St. Sophia is disappointing; the
church presents but the aspect of a confused mass of
buildings, irregular and somewhat mean in charac-
ter and detail, above which rise a flat central dome,
several half-domes abutting thereon, and four inelegant
minarets. But having passed the outer porch, or
exonarthex, and gained the inner porch, or esonarthex,
with its sixteen bronze gates, nine of which lead
directly into the nave, the glory of the great church
begins to dawn upon us ; for we find, on looking
round, that we are in a hall, 200 feet long by 30 feet
broad, the walls of which are panelled with variegated
marble, though dull with age and neglect, it is true, and
above the marble we gain our first view of mosaic work.
We pass impatiently into the nave, and pausing in
the centre of the church cast our eyes around. No
disappointment awaits us here. Like the heavenly
Jerusalem, this Christian temple ' lieth four-square,
and the length is as large as the breadth ; ' and if we
were to measure the height from dome to pavement
we might still further the comparison, for we should
SAINT SOPHIA 21
find that, speaking roughly, 'the length and the breadth
and the height of it are equal.' Above us, supported
on four arches resting on four massive piers, is the
aerial dome, so called because, by reason of its extreme
shallowness in proportion to its diameter — fifteen feet
more than that of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral,
in London^ — it is supposed to resemble the vault of
heaven ; it is constructed of pumice stone and bricks
of an especial lightness. On the north and south
sides, between the dome piers, stand eight great
columns of green marble, four on either hand, said to
have formed part of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus,
brought, it is certain, from that town by the Praetor
Constantine. Eight more columns of porphyry came
from the Temple of the Sun at Baalbek, and ninety-
one other pillars of every variety of marble, brought
from many ancient buildings, support the galleries and
vaulted roofs, making up the total number of one
hundred and seven. There is but one apse ; here
stood formerly the high altar, and before it the screen
or iconostasis, partly *of carved and gilded wood, partly
of gold itself. This apse is lighted by two rows of
three windows each, in honour of the Holy Trinity,
according to the direction of an angel who appeared
to Justinian during the erection of the building. The
walls are veneered with jasper and variegated marbles,
or adorned, like the vaulted ceilings, with mosaic ; but
here and there plates of marble have fallen off, and the
present possessors of the church have supplied their
places with plaster painted in imitation of the more
precious substance ; the mosaics too are for the most
part hidden behind a layer of plaster, as representing
human figures inadmissible in a mosque.
22 MOUNT ATHOS
There are two chapters in the history of St. Sophia
upon which I Hke to dwell when treading the pavement
of that great church. The first carries one back thirteen
centuries, to December 27, 537, when the Emperor
Justinian solemnly dedicated the completed building
to the worship of the Eternal Wisdom. The Patriarch,
we are told, rode in the imperial chariot, accompanied
by all the ecclesiastics of the city ; Justinian himself
followed on foot at the head of his people, giving
thanks as he went for the mercy vouchsafed to him
in having been permitted to finish the holy work ; and
thus the vast procession wended its way from the
Church of St. Anastasia to the new basilica. The
Emperor enters : he gazes around upon the gorgeous
marbles, the glittering mosaics, all fresh from the
hands of the craftsmen ; he sees the great iconostasis
of wood overlaid with gold, the splendid sanctuary,
the walls of which are encrusted with forty thousand
pounds in weight of silver, the doors of cedar, of amber,
and of ivory, the holy table one mass of jewels held
together by gold, for that precious metal was thought
too poor to be used alone. Thousands of lamps and
candles are suspended from the arches and the dome,
or burn in silver standards upon the marble pavement.
The sunlight streams through the windows and lights
up the curling incense- wreaths. Justinian is surrounded
by a dazzling crowd of bishops and senators, priests and
courtiers ; all that is noble in the empire is gathered
within those splendid walls. He stands in front of the
altar screen ; he gazes upward at the great vault sus-
pended, as it were, over his head, and as he does so
the cry bursts from his lips, * Solomon, I have sur-
passed thee ! '
SAINT SOPHIA 23
The curtain drops. We raise it again when nearly
a thousand years have elapsed, on May 29, 1453.
The vast city of Constantine, which the first Christian
emperor had founded to be the capital of the Christian
world, is in her death throes. For fifty-two days the
fifteen miles of wall had been successfully defended
by 8,000 soldiers against nearly 300,000 infidels ; the
siege had almost been raised in despair, when Mahomet
executed his famous stratagem and sailed his fleet
over the dry land into the Golden Horn, and on the
evening of the 28th all knew that the end had come.
The brave Emperor Constantine Palaeologus, having
made his last speech to the valiant defenders, and re-
ceived for the last time the Lord's Body at the altar of
St. Sophia somewhere about midnight, bade farewell to
the trembling inhabitants of the palace, forgave and
asked forgiveness of those around him, and mounting
his horse rode to the great breach by the Gate of St.
Romanus in the land wall on the farther side of the
city. At eight o'clock that morning, the Feast of
Pentecost, Constantinople was taken.
Twenty thousand people of every age and rank
rushed in the vain hope of sanctuary to St. Sophia.
* In the space of an hour the sanctuary, the choir, the
nave, the upper and lower galleries were filled with
the multitudes of fathers and husbands, of women and
children, of priests, monks, and religious virgins.' ^ A
mighty cry goes up, * Kyrie eleison ! Kyrie eleison ! '
' Have mercy upon us, O Lord ! have mercy ! ' A
thousand hands are outstretched in agonized supplica-
tion to where the calm, majestic face of the Virgin
Mother looks down from the mosaic vaulting upon the
^ Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
24 MOUNT ATHOS
frantic crowd; a thousand voices implore the aid of the
great archangel, who, a prophecy asserted, would ap-
pear to deliver Constantinople at the eleventh hour.
Ah, poor souls ! It is too late now to cry for mercy,
for the hour of judgment has come. In vain do
you seek the intervention of the Blessed Ones, for
their will is the will of God ; Mary has veiled her face
and Michael is sorrowfully leaning upon his sword.
Ten centuries have filled to overflowing the cup of
wickedness ; the sins of the great Christian city have
reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities. Alas ! alas ! that mighty city! for in one hour
is her judgment come ! A roar of voices is heard out-
side ; shouts of * Allah ! ' drown the Kyries ; the doors
resound with heavy blows ; the axes crash through the
brazen gates : the Turks rush in.
They meet with no resistance ; the crowd is like a
frightened flock of sheep. Some few, indeed, are cut
down by the flashing swords ; battle axe and mace
beat down the upturned faces of those who block
the entrance of the conquerors, but these are already
satiated with blood and tired of slaughter, eager now
for the captives and the spoil.
The miserable wretches are dragged out into the
courtyard and bound together in rows, amidst tears
and wailing ; daughters are torn from their mothers,
wives from their husbands, the men to cruel bond-
age, the women and girls to grace the harems of
their masters.^ Some are forced down by the press
and trodden underfoot ; shrieks and groans resound
through the church and mingle with the battle cry of
the infidels, ' Allah ! Allah ! ' Tradition asserts that at
' Phranza, 3, 8.
SAINT SOPHIA 25
one of the altars in the southern gallery a priest was
celebrating the last mass in St. Sophia ; for the last
time the blessed words of institution had been pro-
nounced within these venerable walls, for the last time
the spotless sacrifice had been offered up, when the
Turks streamed up the inclined planes which serve
instead of staircases and threw themselves amongst the
terrified throng above. One quick glance behind him
upon the advancing infidels, one imploring cry to God,
not for himself but for the holy mysteries, that they
might be preserved from profanation, and then the
priest, bearing the Sacred Gifts before him, passed
through the solid wall, leaving behind no trace either
of the manner or of the place of entrance.^ Will he
ever return and complete that unfinished Eucharist ?
Some think he will, on the day when St. Sophia
is solemnly restored to the worship of the Christian
faith ; others, and they are the more part, doubt the
possibility. For myself I have no opinion on the
matter ; but one thing I know, that if that tradition be
true and the priest again appears after his long sleep
to assist in the re-dedication of the profaned sanc-
tuary, the nineteenth or twentieth century will per-
suade itself that he is but an optical delusion ; it
will need something more than the reappearance of
an old priest to shake the world out of its material
conceits.
Below the work of destruction has commenced :
^ During the restoration of the church in 1847-49 by Monsieur Fos-
sati, an Italian, called in by the Sultan Abdul- Medjid to save St. Sophia
from the ruin which threatened it through long neglect, this architect had
the curiosity to open the wall at the spot where Turkish and Greek
traditions alike declare the priest to have entered. He found a little
chapel in the thickness of the wall, with a descending staircase encum-
bered with rubbish.
26 MOUNT ATHOS
the great screen is hewn into fragments ; the jewelled
sheathing of the icons and the countless silver lamps
that burn before them become the prey of the maddened
soldiery. The costly hangings and veils, the curtains
of scarlet and of purple are torn down and parted
amongst the spoilers ; the holy table is hacked to pieces ;
the crosses are defaced. The crowd pours into the
sacristies; the vestments and the sacred vessels of
priceless worth become the property of the furious
infidels ; the bodies of the saints are turned out of their
precious shrines ; the temples sanctified by the Holy
Ghost are thrown to the swine and to the dogs. In a
few short hours the heaped-up treasures have been
swept away for ever, and nothing but the empty shell
of St. Sophia remains. Then a cry goes up for the
utter destruction of the Christian church ; the Turks
have already commenced to cut away the mosaics,
when the Conqueror himself appears and sternly
claims the building as his own. He rides proudly
into the church ; ^ his charger's hoofs clatter on
Justinian's pavement ; he stops before the eastern apse
and there proclaims the Church of the Eternal Wisdom
to be henceforth sacred to the religion of the Prophet.
That evening the muezzin ascended the principal tower
and called the faithful to prayer :
La Ilah il Allah we Mohammed resoul Allah.
St. Sophia was lost to Christendom. But — so say
Turks as well as Christians — not for ever. And in the
eastern apse, above the muttering Moslems, may still
be traced the image of the Divine Redeemer with all-
* Ducas seems to contradict this tradition ; but the historian was not
present on the occasion.
SEVEN TOWERS 2/
embracing Arms stretched out in benediction, appear-
ing through layers of paint and plaster ; and over the
western doorway may yet be read the words, written
on a brazen tablet, ' Come unto Me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Viventne
ossa ista ? Domine Deus, tu nosti.
It is a long ride or drive from Pera to the triple
wall which defends the land side of Constantinople,
but it is worth undertaking, for it offers the most
perfect specimen extant of mediaeval fortification,
never having been touched since the Turkish conquest
and presenting the same shattered aspect as when the
city was stormed in 1453. At the corner where the
triple wall joins the wall on the south side of Constan-
tinople, which runs along the shore of the Sea of
Marmora, is the citadel or fortress known as the Seven
Towers, formerly used by the Ottomans as a State
prison, but now entirely dismantled. From the circuit
of the castle walls a fine view is obtainable ; the inclo-
sure is bare and empty, but in the vaults under one of
the towers visitors are shown the place where the un-
fortunate prisoners were confined. Until comparatively
recent times, on war breaking out between the Porte
and another Power, the ambassador representing the
hostile government was hurried to the prison of the
Seven Towers, instead of being politely handed his pass-
port, as in these days. Of those confined within the
castle few ever regained their freedom ; the sword, the
bowstring, and the torture did their work, and many a
gloomy story those walls could tell. On the walls of
what was formerly a dark vault, but which is now opened
to the light, many names are scratched in European
characters. One imperfect inscription I copied out.
28 MOUNT ATHOS
Prison ie
urs qui dans
les miseres,
gemissez dans
ce triste lieu
Offrez les de
bon Coeur k
Dieu et vous
les trouverez
l^ger.
But a few broken words, and yet a touching tale is
hidden here. Poor prisoner ! without a name, without
a history.
One night we went to dine with some English
friends at their house at Candelli, on the Asiatic shore
of the Bosphorus. After dinner we sat on a terrace
overhanging the water and enjoyed the coolness of the
evening, listening to the heavy sighs of the porpoises
as they frolicked in the rushing stream. As it grew
late, we embarked in our host's caique to return to
Constantinople. The old Greek boatman took us into
the middle of the stream, and then, equidistant from
Europe and Asia, we were partly rowed, partly carried
by the swift current towards the city. We were re-
clining lazily on the cushion at the bottom of our
little craft when Constantinople rose before us in the
darkness like an enchanted city of the ' Arabian Nights.'
.It was the festival of Bairam, and every minaret in
Stamboul was illuminated with rows of lamps — a
scene most weird and wonderful, but, like most good
things, too transient, for the stream was swift, our old
boatman strong of arm, and soon our sharp prow grated
against the dark quay of Galata.
Before our departure for Mount Athos it was
PHANAR 29
necessary to obtain a letter of introduction to the
monks, and for that purpose we arranged for a visit
to Phanar, where lives the Patriarch of Constantinople —
the CEcumenical Patriarch, as he is called in the East —
to present the formal letter of introduction with which
we had been furnished by our ecclesiastical authorities
and to pay our respects to his Holiness.
Having received intimation from the Patriarchate
that an audience would be granted us on a certain
afternoon, we left our hotel at Pera at two o'clock that
day and drove, attended by our dragoman and a
cavass from the consulate, to Phanar. We were re-
ceived at the gate of the Patriarchate by several
servants, who conducted us up a long flight of steep
marble steps to the room of the Grand Vicar, a rather
young man with black hair and beard. About ten or
twelve other ecclesiastics were present, and we soon
got into conversation, as they were very inquisitive
and asked innumerable questions over the sweets,
coffee, and cigarettes which are the invariable prelude
to all business in the East. So we told them that we
belonged to the great Anglican Church of which the
Archbishop of Canterbury was the patriarch : that we
were not like the Lutherans or the Calvinists ; that
we had nothing to do with the Presbyterian mission-
aries, but had the greatest respect for the Eastern
Church and much wished for unity. Then we exhi-
bited certain photographs, with which we had provided
ourselves before leaving home, of the Archbishop,
St. Paul's Cathedral, and other English churches.
These called forth endless questions, which we had not
time to answer before word came that the Patriarch
had finished his siesta and was ready to receive us.
30 MOUNT ATHOS
Accordingly we got up, bowed to our friends, and were
taken into the presence of Joachim III. His Holiness
was sitting in a good-sized, airy room, furnished in the
French style with a row of high-backed chairs and a
sofa covered with crimson velvet. A few sacred pic-
tures hung round the walls, amongst them an engraving
of Murlllo's Madonna in the Louvre. A small writing
table covered with books, at which the Patriarch sat,
completed the furniture.
As we entered his Holiness rose and gave us his
hand. We all sat down, and he remarked that he was
very glad to see me again (I had had a short interview
with him in 1882), and pleased to make the acquaint-
ance of my friend, who, he hoped, was satisfied with
Constantinople. Then O — drew from the pocket of
his cassock our commendatory letter, saying to the in-
terpreter, ' Tell his Holiness that I have the pleasure
of bringing him a letter from the Most Holy and the,
Most Learned the Bishop of Lichfield.'
The Patriarch took the document and read it through
carefully from beginning to end, and then began it
again and read the whole of it for the second time.
Apparently he was much pleased with it, for he said
' Polycala ' (Very good) several times, and then handed
it to the Grand Logothete, or principal layman, who
was the only other person in the room.
The episcopal seal of wafer and tissue paper hardly
excited less interest than the contents of the letter, and
both Patriarch and Grand Logothete twisted it every
possible way to see how it was done.
We conversed about the English Church, and his
Holiness said that he was very sorry to hear of the
death of the late Archbishop of Canterbury, and asked
ANGLICANS AND PROTESTANTS 3 I
after the present one, whereupon I told him that our
Lord Edward was much interested in Eastern Christen-
dom, and that on my return to England I should relate
to his Grace all I had seen.
Then we exhibited our photographs and began the
subject of unity by saying that there were many people
in England who wished for the union of the two com-
munions. The Patriarch said that the wish was a good
one, and he hoped it might be fulfilled. ' But,' added
he, referring to what was evidently on his mind, ' unity
should be procured without individual proselytism.'
* Of course,* said we, ' that is very wrong.'
* But the Protestants and the Americans prose-
lytize,' said his Holiness, ' and the American college
here does its best to draw away our people from the
faith of their fathers.'
Here it was necessary to insist very strongly on
the fact that our Church had nothing whatever to do
with the Protestant missionaries in Constantinople.
These missionaries themselves are at great pains to
inform the Greeks thfit they belong to our holy religion,
for however much they may attack the Church at
home they like to wrap themselves in the mantle of
her prestige abroad. So we put the matter quite
clearly before his Holiness, and asked him if he had
ever found our people proselytizing amongst his flock.
' No,' said he, * with Anglicans we have no fault to
find;
We next spoke about a Greek deacon whom the
Patriarch had sent to Oxford to study English theo-
logy, and said that we were all much gratified at his
sending him to us, taking it as a great compliment
to our Church. At this the Patriarch's face quite
32 MOUNT ATIIOS
brightened up ; he was evidently pleased at hearing
that his action had been appreciated, and he twice
repeated that he would send some more. The Patriarch
then discussed our journey, and commended our pur-
pose of visiting the Holy Mountain. Soon afterwards
we rose to take leave.
His Holiness bade us adieu in a very kindly manner,
asked us to visit him in the event of our returning to
Constantinople after leaving Athos, and finally said,
' I am always delighted to see any member of the
English Church, and you must be sure to convey my
salutations to the Archbishop of Canterbury.'
So we bowed and withdrew.
After visiting the Patriarchal Church of St. George
and leaving a card upon the Metropolitan Bryennius,
the learned editor of the JtSa^i^ ^ATrodToXojv, whose
acquaintance I had made the previous year, we left
the Patriarchate and returned to Pera.
Two days after our interview an archimandrite and
a secretary waited on us at the Hotel d'Angleterre
with a letter from the Patriarch, recommending us to
the synod of Mount Athos. The following is a literal
translation of it :
Joachim, by the mercy of God Archbishop of Constantinople,
New Rome, and CEcumenical Patriarch.
Most Holy Presidents and Overseers of the Synod of the Holy
Mountain of Athos, Our beloved sons in the Lord, Grace be with
you and peace from God.
The bearers of our present letter to your Holinesses, English
travellers, the Most Reverend Priest of the English Church Arthur
E. Brisco Owen and Athelstan Riley, eminent professors of the
renowned University in Oxford, visiting Eastern parts, journeyed
also to Constantinople to see what is most worthy of inspection
therein, and came to Us provided with a commendatory letter from
the Most Beloved of God William, Bishop of Lichfield, in England,
A BULGARIAN APPLICATION ^^
who requires that they, who are about to visit the sacred abodes of
the Holy Mountain, shall be properly recommended.
We, therefore, assigning to these persons who have been intro-
duced to Us befitting dignity, as being illustrious persons and strangers
worthy of all honour, writing by this present Patriarchal epistle of
Ours, exhort your Holinesses, that, having received with hospitality
these distinguished guests, ye furnish them, besides necessary pro-
tection, with every other facility, that making the circuit of the
Holy Mountain they may see also whatever is worthy of inspection
therein and may carry away with them the most pleasing impressions
of your friendly and kindly customs.
The Grace and Endless Mercy of God be with you.
July 21, 1883.
+ Of Constantinople your bedesman in Christ.
Before leaving the capital we visited the chaplain
of the Crimean Memorial Church, Canon Curtis, who
gave us three copies of Palmer's ' History of the Church,'
a work which he had translated Into modern Greek,
asking us to give them away at Athos as presents
from him.
He spoke much on the utter ignorance respecting
our Church which exists in the East, and told us an
amusing story in illustration of this.
During the late troubles in the Bulgarian Church,
which have culminated in a sort of partial schism and
separation from the Patriarchal see, Canon Curtis re-
ceived a letter, signed by high ecclesiastical and lay
members of the Bulgarian Church, asking him to use
his influence with the Archbishop of Canterbury to get
them admitted into the Anglican communion ; ' for,'
said they, * you have so many sects in your Church —
Presbyterians, and Lutherans, and Calvinists, and many
others — that it cannot do you any harm to have one
more ; so please take the Bulgarians as well.'
34 MOUNT ATHOS
CHAPTER IV.
In cities should we English lie,
Where cries are rising ever new
And men's incessant stream goes by —
We who pursue
; Our business with unslackening stride,
Traverse in troops, with care-fiU'd breast,
The soft Mediterranean side,
The Nile, the East,
And see all sights from pole to pole,
And glance, and nod, and bustle by ;
And never once possess our soul
Before we die. Matthew Arnold.
On Saturday, August 4, N.S., we left Constantinople
at 3.30 P.M. in the 'Calypso,' one of the Austrian
Lloyd Company's steamers. The Sea of Marmora
was as smooth as glass, and we had a glorious view of
Stamboul and Scutari as they gradually disappeared
from sight. There were hardly any saloon passengers
— only a Greek tobacco merchant, a Turkish officer on
his way to Salonica, and one other man. As we were
drinking tea in the cabin after dinner the Greek mer-
chant, who spoke a little English, imparted to us the
unwelcome news that the ship in which we were had
just returned from Alexandria, with only ten days'
quarantine at Beyrout and two in the Dardanelles ;
that she had been engaged in Turkish transport service
in the Red Sea, when two privates and one officer had
o %>
< ^
si
O 3
I
CA VALLA 35
died on board of cholera ; that one of the numerous
deck passengers had only just recovered from cholera,
and that he himself had seen his papers, which testified
to that effect. Here was a cheerful prospect — to be
cooped up for forty-eight hours in a choleraic vessel,
with the uncomfortable feeling to boot that the Turkish
officer might have died in one's berth ! However, there
was nothing to be done ; we put as cheerful a face
upon our circumstances as possible, and after all were
none the worse for our voyage.
On Sunday morning, at 4.30 a.m., we anchored off
Gallipoli, and at eight o'clock passed through the
Dardanelles, which are perhaps a trifle narrower than
the Bosphorus, but not nearly so pretty.
At four in the afternoon we reached Dedeaghach,
and, as the steamer was to remain there until mid-
night, took the opportunity of landing. The town
consists of between fifty and a hundred houses scat-
tered over a sandy plain ; in fact, a more miserable
place it would be difficult to imagine. The next
morning, quite early, we touched at Lagos, and soon
after leaving it saw the mountainous island of Thasos
in the distance. Passing this we cast anchor in the
bay of Cavalla a little after noon.
The town of Cavalla is extremely picturesque. Oc-
cupying a rocky promontory, it is surrounded by the
sea on three sides ; the houses rise one above another
until they are crowned by an ancient fortress at the
top of the rock, and the whole is encircled by walls in
perfect preservation, I think of Genoese construction.
The promontory upon which the town stands is con-
nected with the mainland by an isthmus ; here a fine
Roman aqueduct conveys water from the neighbouring
D 2
36 MOUNT ATHOS
hills to the inhabitants, of whom there are at present
1 1 ,000, 6,000 being Turks and the rest Greek Chris-
tians, with the exception of a small colony of 150
Italians. Almost the whole population is concerned
in one way or another with the tobacco trade ; for the
tobacco plantations of Cavalla are only second to those
of Yenidjeh, which lie a little inland.
On landing we found the city quite as pleasing in
its interior as in its exterior ; the streets are narrow,
steep, and tortuous, the dresses of the natives tho-
roughly Oriental. Here turbans are still in fashion,
and the women are clad in the brightest-coloured silks
and wear the yashmak more closely than their sisters
of Constantinople, tying it in a different way, with the
end of the veil hanging down their backs.
There being no British consul, Signor Pecchioli,
who represents Italy and Germany as vice-consul, has
been appointed our acting consul. This gentleman
insisted upon our accepting his hospitality during the
term of our enforced stay at Cavalla — although we
were perfect strangers and had no letters of introduc-
tion to him — and took upon himself the conduct of all
our affairs.
The consul went with us for a walk on the after-
noon of our arrival and showed us a plane tree of great
size and between 400 and 500 years old, growing in
the court of a mosque. Near it, under a pump, is a
stone trough which tradition asserts St. Paul used for
baptisms. But half a mile from the town, on the other
side of the bay, is a relic which is more certainly con-
nected with the great Apostle, the old Via Ignatia,
which here leaves the sea and stretches across the
mountains to Philippi. This part of the old Roman
METROPOLITAN OF CAVALLA 37
road is still in perfect preservation and is paved with
blocks of stone. The scene from it, looking back over
the bay, is a beautiful one, and can be but little changed
since the Apostle's days ; probably the town itself pre-
sents much the same aspect that it did i,8oo years
ago. We returned to the town towards evening,
stopping first, however, at a little wayside cafe to
refresh ourselves. We sat down in the garden facing
the bay and had some Turkish sweetmeats and water.
In front of us we could just make out the outline
of Mount Athos through the mist, rising up out of
the distant sea.
Whilst we were thus enjoying ourselves an eccle-
siastic appeared, preceded by a cavass gorgeously
apparelled in blue and gold. He was walking with a
long silver-headed staff in his hand, and was introduced
to us by the consul as the Lord Archbishop of Cavalla.
He took a seat at our table, and we entered into con-
versation, the prelate speaking a little French.
We told him that we were waiting for a boat to
take us to Mount Athos.
' Why, then,' said the Archbishop, * you must be the
two Englishmen of whom the (Ecumenical Patriarch
wrote in his letter to me. I too am going on a pil-
grimage to the Holy Mountain for the first time, and
when the Patriarch sent me my letter of introduction
he told me that I should probably fall in with two dis-
tinguished English travellers, in which case I was to
show them every civility. So we will go together.'
Of course nothing could have been more advanta-
geous for us, and we arranged the matter over a cup of
coffee. The Archbishop would go as soon as we wished,
and as we wished. And thus it was that our friendship
38 MOUNT ATHOS
began with the genial fellow-traveller who was to con-
tribute so much to the pleasure and the profit of our
' memorable and fortunate journey to Athos.' ^
But it was no easy matter to get to the land of the
monks. Though under its very shadow, it seemed as
far away as ever. The consul refused to aid us in
going round by land, as recent intelligence had reached
him of brigand bands in the vicinity, and he would not
take the responsibility of abetting the journey. We
tried a sailing boat belonging to two Italian sailors, but
they said that we might take three days to reach Athos
if the wind was unfavourable, and this intelligence was
quite enough to make me refuse the experiment. One
course was still open to us, to charter a little Turkish
steamer, that was to touch at Cavalla on its way from
Salonica to Smyrna, to take us to our destination.
This vessel arrived at 10 a.m. on the second day of
our stay, Wednesday, ^J^^, and we instantly sent
to make arrangements with the captain and the agent.
The answer was that they would take us for the modest
sum of 25/. !
Then the usual bargaining began. Two or three
messages passed between the steamboat office and the
consulate, with the result that two hours later the captain
paid us a visit to inform us that after due consideration,
to oblige Englishmen, &c. &c., they had agreed to
take 12/. or 300 francs ; this was the very lowest price.
So we thanked him for the trouble he had taken in
coming to see us, and told him that upon second
thoughts we had come to the conclusion that a sailing
boat would be a far more pleasant means of transit.
' So the Archbishop described it in a letter to me after my return.
A TURKISH BARGAIN 39
The captain pointed out that the wind was contrary.
' So much the better,' we repHed ; ' we shall have the
more for our money ; ' whereat he departed.
' Ah,' said the consul, ' give him another hour, and
he will be here again.' And sure enough the little
steamer in the bay showed no signs of weighing anchor,
and at one o'clock the captain returned with the agent
of the company.
He said that they thought it right to warn us that
a storm was brewing, and that it would be extremely
dangerous to attempt the passage in an open boat.
We thanked them for their kind thoughtfulness,
but said that, having quite decided to go by the sailing
boat, we must trust to our kismet. If we were fated to
be drowned we should be ; but if otherwise, Inskallak,
we should arrive at Athos. The agent then observed
that having spent the last hour in minute calculations
he had found that the amount of extra coals needed
for the trip would not come to more than 11/.
' Well,' said I, ' aS you are so very anxious for us to
take your steamer (though for my part I muck prefer
a nice little boat in which one can take one's ease for
a day or two), perhaps we might give you ten Turkish
pounds.'
* Certainly,' said the agent, ' but as Englishmen
you will pay in English pounds.'
' Oh, no ! ' said I ; * we could not think of that ; it
would be an insult to the country we are in. In
Turkey we always pay in Turkish pounds.'
And so the bargain was struck — ten liras (about 9/.
sterling), and we might start at once.
We took leave of our kind host and his wife, and
were soon on board ; the Archbishop and his servants
40 MOUNT ATHOS
joined us a few minutes later ; we weighed anchor and
made for the Holy Mountain.
The deck was encumbered by Turks and Greeks
with their goods and possessions round them, placidly
smoking their tchibouques and cigarettes. All were
bound for Smyrna, and were consequently being taken
some way back in the direction of their starting-
place, Salonica ; altogether the digression for our
benefit would entail about ten hours' extra voyage.
But what matter ? Time is of no value to an
Oriental ; he never makes an appointment, or if he
makes one he never keeps it. Now that our party is
finally made up, and before we reach the scene of our
toils, the pilgrims will do themselves the honour of
making their introductory bows to the reader.
First comes the Altogether Most Holy One
Philotheos, by the Mercy of God the Most Reverend
and Divinely Appointed Archbishop and Metropolitan
of the Most Holy Metropolis of Xanthe and Christo-
polis (Cavalla) ; Highly Esteemed and Right Honour-
able.
The possessor of these superlative titles is about
five-and-thirty years of age, in person short, not more
than five feet three inches, but looks much taller on
account of his lofty hat and the extreme dignity of his
demeanour before strangers on all official occasions.
Over his purple cassock he wears a grey cloth cloak
lined with white fur, and over this again, at stated
times, a voluminous cloak of black stuff. Genial, kind,
and full of good-nature towards his equals, whilst
haughty and unbending towards his inferiors, indolent
beyond belief, absolute idleness being his chief delight,
in character he is a pattern Oriental.
PANTELE AND PETER 4 I
He is attended by two servants, Pantele and Peter.
The former is his cavass, or soldier servant, whose duty-
it is to ride or walk before him, carrying his long silver-
headed staff. His dress consists of a pair of loose blue
trousers fitting tightly below the knee, a short jacket of
the same colour, both jacket and trousers being covered
with gold embroidery, a forage cap, a sword by his
side, and a sash round his waist containing knives and
pistols. He is a Montenegrin, and does justice to his
nationality — quick, handy, obedient, possessed of a fine
upright figure (he has a curious way of bringing his
feet together in the ' first position ' when halting, which
gives him a particularly smart air), and in addition
to these good qualities extremely devout and well-
behaved in church, where he is accustomed to strike
his forehead with such resounding blows on the pave-
ment that the exercise seems to partake more of the
excess than defect of devotion. Peter : The bosom
friend of Pantele and his inseparable companion through
evil report and good report, through archiepiscopal
storm and sunshine ; in nearly everything except re-
ligion his friend's antithesis ; short, thick-set, with
a light brown beard, dressed in untidy European dress
surmounted by a fez. In character humble, submissive,
he is kept in constant attendance on his master — not
an easy one to please — whom he serves as valet and
general slave for the magnificent wage of a mejidieh
and a half a month (about six shillings) and what he
can pick up when resident at ' the metropolis.' Peter
will tell you that his one great ambition is to become a
deacon, and that his master has promised him that if he
is very good, and serves him well and faithfully, perhaps
he will make him one. Peter has, therefore, already
42 MOUNT ATHOS
commenced to grow long hair, which escaping from
beneath his fez adds to his general unkempt appearance.
Probably he hopes by this means to keep the promise
constantly before his lord's notice ; for he has mis-
givings that the Archbishop prefers his present services
as servant to his doubtful diaconal assistance, and
Peter being remarkably quick with his needle and an
expert mender of the archiepiscopal wardrobe, I have
no doubt that there is good cause for his fears. Now,
Peter, off you go with a salaam and make room for
your betters.
The Reverend Arthur E. Brisco Owen next ap-
pears before you — an old Oxford friend of mine, a
tried fellow-traveller, whose sunny presence and mirth-
ful humour have relieved many a dreary hour ; in every
respect an ideal companion for the journey upon which
we are engaged. In height — well, he has the advantage
of Philotheos ; in dignity, a good second. Now you
know as much about O — as you will learn from me,
for to describe a friend is not only an improper but an
impossible task.
Angelos Melissinou, our dragoman : In person
tall, broad-shouldered, and — to use a polite word
— stout; his weight I should be sorry to mention.
O — always speaks of him to me as * your ox ' !
Dresses as much like an Englishman as possible, and
prides himself on being taken for one. He speaks
our language like a native, having been engaged in
his business from his youth, chiefly on board English
yachts in the Levant. He knows his profession well,
and is usually employed by travellers in Greece, with
whom he is a general favourite. Being a native of
Athens, he thinks it grand to exhibit a mild form of
ARRIVAL AT THE HOLY MOUNTAIN 43
scepticism, has given up fasting, and in church makes
a little sign of the cross an inch long, as if he were
ashamed of it. His chief delight is to torment the
Archbishop by telling him, with an air of great supe-
riority, how they have given up this or that piece of
religion at Athens. The Archbishop rejoins by per-
tinent allusions to hell fire ; Angelos appeals to us ; we
back up the Archbishop, and so the controversy sub-
sides for the next forty-eight hours.
Lastly there is your humble servant. Well, perhaps
the less said about him the better. By the time we
have completed our journey you will know as much
of him as is necessary.
So here we all are, three Greeks, two Englishmen,
and a Montenegrin ; and having introduced ourselves
we will think about landing, for we have nearly reached
the great promontory with its white monasteries dotted
along the shore, and we are just entering the Bay of
Vatopedi.
The British ensign was run up to the mainmast,
the Turkish flag (to denote the presence of the Arch-
bishop, who was a Turkish subject) to the foremast ;
the steamer gave several loud whistles and cast anchor
in the bay.
It was now eight o'clock and dusk, but through the
gathering darkness we could see two or three small
boats coming towards the steamer, propelled by monks
in tall hats.
Into one the Archbishop, O— , Pan tele, Peter, and
myself entered, but not without the greatest difficulty,
as the boat all but upset Angelos followed in another
with all the luggage.
We soon reached the pier, were assisted to land by
44 MOUNT ATHOS
a crowd of monks, walked a little way towards the
monastery, and then sat down on a stone bench to
await the luggage. When it arrived a Turkish custom-
house officer was greatly desirous of opening it, but
by strenuous exertions Angelos prevented this, and we
all proceeded to the monastery. On our arrival the
great gate was thrown open, and a monk carrying a
taper in his fingers went before us. It was now quite
dark and we could see nothing of our surroundings,
but followed the monk through what seemed a laby-
rinth, through courts, up flights of stairs, along passages,
across the tops of ancient walls, now under cover, now,
as we could tell from the stars overhead, in the open
air. Finally we reached the set of rooms provided for
us — a large sitting-room, into which two bedrooms
opened, one for the Archbishop and one for us, con-
taining clean iron bedsteads, and three or four other
bedrooms on the other side of a passage in which
our retainers settled themselves.
Supper was announced almost immediately, and
the Archbishop, ourselves, and Angelos were conducted
to the room where it was prepared.
We seated ourselves round a table with four of the
chief monks, and the meal was immediately served.
But what a repast ! Our hearts sank within us as
we thought of the gastronomic trials in store for us
during the next few weeks. The first dish consisted
of raw tomatoes and chillies steeped in strong-smelling
oil. This was placed in the centre of the table, each
person helping himself with his own fork. The
second course was soup, delicately compounded of
fish and oil, the first spoonful of which positively took
my breath away, it was so inexpressibly nasty. The
AN ATHOS MENU 45
soup was followed by hot fish cooked in oil ; this was
just eatable. Then cold cooked tomatoes stuffed with
herbs and garlic. The fifth dish consisted of a white
paste looking like cornflour, which we were told was
made of ground beans ; this was a sort of sweet, but
being flavoured with garlic it did not suit our palates.
At the sixth course we returned to the fish again, and
ended with water melons, which all ate with their fishy
and garlic-scented knives. The redeeming point in
the supper was the wine, which was both plentiful and
good. After the meal we left the table and reclined on
the divans to take our * after-dinner ' glass. Whether
we afterwards got accustomed to the fare or not I
cannot say, but this supper seemed to us to be un-
questionably the worst meal we ever had at Vatopedi ;
we never had anything to complain of in the food set
before us on subsequent occasions in this hospitable
monastery.
We returned to our rooms, had coflee whilst re-
ceiving several mqnastic visitors, and retired at half-
past eleven for our first night's rest on the Holy
Mountain.
46 MOUNT ATIIOS
CHAPTER V.
In spLte of the novelty of our situation we slept well,
and did not awake until the sun had been up many
hours and the heat of the day had begun. Before
dressing we hastened to the windows of our little bed-
room to see where we were, for our rambling walk
through the monastery the previous night had left us
in utter ignorance of the points of the compass. We
found that our room was at an angle of the walls, where
there had been originally a great tower, which, having
been evidently considered useless and out of date by
the monks, had been levelled to the height of the walls
and then been built upon. This is the usual modern de-
velopment of Athos architecture, and if my reader will
take the trouble to look at the illustrations of the mo-
nastic exteriors he will find examples of it in nearly
every convent. Thus at Vatopedi the rooms are con-
tinued along the top of the wall the whole way round,
with two exceptions, where the ancient battlemented
towers have been allowed to remain. A second archi-
tectural peculiarity is that these rooms, which are built
on the top of the wall, overhang it considerably on the
exterior, and are, therefore, supported by brackets of
stout timbers. Sometimes, indeed, these hanging rooms
are built in several rows one over the other, as at the
Monastery of St. Dionysius. This gives a curious pic-
VIEW FROM OUR WINDOW 47
turesqueness to the walls of the convents, although there
is a drawback in the feeling of insecurity which forces
itself disagreeably upon the visitor as he lea;ns out of
the window at the back of his divan and discovers that
he and the divan upon which he is reclining are not
upon terra firma, as he fancied, but overhang a pre-
cipice.
But I must return to our chamber at Vatopedi.
Our first peep gave us a slight foretaste of the glorious
scenery that was in store for us during our six weeks'
sojourn on the Holy Mountain. Immediately beneath
us was a sort of moat supplied with water from one of
the numerous rills which flow down from the hills ;
beyond the moat an open space of ground led up to
the gate of the monastery, before which was a domed
porch supported on four marble pillars. Close to the
gate there is a little kiosk, or summer house, where the
monks sit in the cool of the evening and enjoy the
balmy breezes from the sea, which is only a few hun-
dred yards distant arid here takes the form of a beau-
tiful bay. A few small craft were lying at anchor,
discharging cargoes of bricks and iron rails for the re-
pair of some buildings recently burnt. Just outside the
monastery and opposite to our window are the stables,
where a hundred fat and well-groomed mules belong-
ing to this convent have their head-quarters, wandering
about the neighbouring pastures when they are not re-
quired, each with his little tinkling bell round his neck.
Then comes the cemetery, a marvellously small piece
of ground for the number of inhabitants that live and
die in and around Vatopedi, if it were not for the in-
variable custom which prevails here, and generally
amongst the Greeks, of digging up the bodies three
48 MOUNT ATHOS
years after burial ; theskulls are then neatly labelled with
the names of the owners and the dates of their deaths,
and placed in the crypt of the cemetery church, whilst
the other bones are thrown confusedly into a large chest.
The crypt at Vatopedi contains 3,000 skulls. In the
hole out of which the skeleton has been dug (corpses
are buried without coffins) another body is buried, and
so on ad infinihtm. How the soil manages to absorb
so much animal matter I cannot tell, but it is a very
rare occurrence for a body to be found entire at the end
of the three years, and a popular superstition hands
over the owner of the said body to the Fiend in the
case of non-decomposition. Passing the cemetery and
the various little cottages all covered with vines and
creepers which lie between the convent and the sea,
where dwell the muleteers, artisans, and labourers
belonging to the monastery, you arrive at the garden
in which the good monks grow their herbs and vege-
tables. It stretches for some distance along the sea-
shore, from which it is separated by a stone wall.
Every evening this garden is carefully irrigated from a
large reservoir, and in consequence is very productive.
After we had gazed for some time at the scene I
have just described we called for Angelos, who was
sitting talking with the Archbishop in the next room,
and made him fetch water for our bath. And here let
me recommend to all travellers that great luxury, a port-
able india-rubber bath. Mine goes into the compass
of a large sponge bag, and does not take up more room
in the portmanteau than an ordinary night shirt. It
has been many thousand miles with me, and is in as
good condition as when I first bought it at the cost of
seventeen shillings and sixpence. We dressed rapidly,
VATOPEDI COURTYARD
49
and having^ startled an old monk beneath by emptying
the water from the bath into the moat, joined the Arch-
bishop in the parlour. It was now time to go to break-
fast ; but O — had to take his departure without me,
as the dainties I had consumed the previous evening
had proved too much for me, and I breakfasted in my
COURTYARD OF VATOPEDI.
bedroom on plain boiled rice. Towards noon, how-
ever, I recovered and joined O — in an examination
of the interior of the monastery.
It is built on a hill rising from the sea, so that the
courtyard, which is very extensive, is on a consider-
able incline. Within this is the catholicon, or principal
church, the ancient refectory, another church dedicated
to the Holy Girdle, and various offices, such as kitchens,
E
50 MOUNT ATHOS
oil Stores, bell and clock towers, &c. The courtyard is
surrounded by the monastic buildings, of vast extent,
partly within the great walls, partly built on them in
the manner described above. There were originally
twelve towers ; now only two remain as such, the rest
having been levelled nearly to the walls. Curzon in
his delightful book ^ describes the monastery accurately
when he says, * This convent well illustrates what some
of the great monastic establishments in England must
have been before the Reformation. It covers at least
four acres of ground, and contains so many separate
buildings within its massive walls that it resembles a
fortified town.' Some idea of its extent may be realised
when one considers that it contains no less than sixteen
churches within the walls. Of course many of these
are mere chapels, but still each is a perfect church with
its interior divisions and its dome over the roof. The
entrance, which, as before said, has a porch, ''^ is defended
by three gates placed at intervals along a narrow and
tortuous passage, so constructed as to be easily de-
fended in case of need. In this passage Clarke, in 1801,
noticed two guns on carriages ; there were then, he
says, many cannon in the embrasures of the walls. In
fact, until 1820 all the monasteries were provided with
cannon ; in that year the Turks removed them. On
the second gate (the old outer gate, the present one
' Monasteries of the Levant. London, 1850.
'-' Nearly all the convents have similar porches. They generally con-
tain frescoes of the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Child, the two arch-
angels Michael and Gabriel, the two soldier saints George and Demetrius,
and the patron saint of the house. Lamps are suspended before these
representations of the guardians of the monastic gate, and it is customary
to bow towards the principal picture over the doorway and to cross
oneself on entering or leaving the convent.
VATOPEDI PHIALE 5 1
having been added 1 50 years back) is a small handle
fashioned into the rough likeness of a dog, and
the story goes that it was presented by a Turkish
officer who contemptuously brought his bitch within
the sacred precincts (probably during the occupation
at the time of the Greek Revolution), when the
animal was instantly stricken dead. The door is
thickly plated with iron and is of great weight.
Between the west end of the catholicon and the
refectory is a charming little court planted with orange
trees, containing Xh^phiale, or fountain, which is always
to be found close to the catholicon, generally at the west
end, throughout the Athos convents.^ It is used for
the blessing of water at the Epiphany and on the first
day of each month, though anciently it was probably
intended for the performance of ablutions before
entering the church,^ as is the custom of the Mussul-
mans at the present day ; indeed, this reason has been
given for its discontinuance amongst Eastern Chris-
tians. In the West jthe phiale has been replaced by
the holy water stoup ; in the East holy water at the
church doors is unknown, although I have heard it
stated that there are exceptions where the Easterns
have been brought into contact with the Latins. At
Vatopedi the phiale, dedicated to St, John Baptist, has
a dome supported by a double row of white marble
columns, connected by a carved parapet of the
same material. Under the dome is a large marble
basin.
* On the phiale of St. Sophia at Constantinople was the following
inscription, which, it will be observed, reads both ways :
NII'ON ANOMHMATA MH MONAN G'^'IN.
' Eusebius, Hist. Ecd. x. 4. See also Texier, Byzantine Arch. p. 71.
E 2
52
MOUNT ATHOS
The catholicon is one of the most ancient buildings
on the Holy Mountain, and is particularly well propor-
tioned. From internal evidence it would seem to have
been built about the ninth century, possibly as late as
the end of the tenth, as there exists a tradition that the
monastery was restored at that time after it had been
destroyed by the Arabs. The monks assert that the
PLAN OF AN
EASTERN CHURCH.
I.
Bema.
8. Holy table.
2.
Chapel of the
prothesis.
9. Table of the prothesis.
3-
Diaconicon,
ID. Bishop's seat.
4-
Nave.
II. Holy doors.
S-
Esonarthex.
12. Iconostasis.
6.
Exonarthex.
13. Pillars supporting the central
. 7-
Pronaos.
dome.
four massive columns of porphyry which support the
central dome were gifts of the Empress Pulcheria,^
being brought hither from Ravenna. Pulcheria died
in A.D. 453, and the church is certainly not as old as
the fifth century, but it is quite possible that these
' Another tradition alters Pulcheria to Placidia ; see history of the
monastery, below.
DESCRIPTION OF A GREEK CHURCH 53
pillars may have belonged to a more ancient church
which was only partially destroyed and was afterwards
rebuilt much on the old plan.
Before giving a description of the interior of this ca-
tholicon it will be necessary for me to explain to some of
my readers how a Greek church is built, for it differs so
widely from a Western interior that if I omitted to do so
my remarks would be for the most part unintelligible.
It will be seen, looking at the accompanying plan,
that the church is divided into three principal portions,
the exonarthex, or exterior vestibule, with the esonar-
thex, or interior vestibule, the nave, and the bema, or
sanctuary. The exonarthex and esonarthex are fre-
quently merged into one division, called simply the
narthex. Generally in addition to the nartheces there
is 2ipronaos, or porch, sometimes called th& proaulion.
Besides these divisions there is theoretically always
a quire, situated in front of the bema in the centre of
the church, but at Athos there is no proper quire, as
stalls are fixed agaiost the whole of the walls of the
nave and narthex.
On each side of the bema is a chapel, that on the
north being the chapel of the prothesis, that on the
south the diaconicon, or sacristy. These chapels are
sometimes completely separated from the bema, being
entered from it b}'' doorways in the dividing walls, but
more often, especially in modern Byzantine churches,
they are only architecturally separated.
The bema, the chapel of the prothesis, and the dia-
conicon are separated from the nave by a high and
solid screen called the iconostasis, which reaches at
least halfway up to the roof of the church and is
covered with icons, or sacred pictures, in which, as a
54 MOUNT ATHOS
general rule, only the faces and hands of the figures
are painted, the rest of the subject being rendered in
repousse metal work, usually of silver gilt, and set with
precious stones. This screen is pierced by three door-
ways, the centre one called the aytat dvpau, or /lo/y doors,
opening directly on to the holy table, which is situated in
the bema about three feet behind the iconostasis. The
icon next to the holy doors on the south side is that of
our Saviour, that on the north of the Blessed Virgin.
This order is invariably followed in every Eastern
church ; the other icons on the iconostasis may be of
any saints. Besides the holy doors a curtain or veil
{^r)\60vpov), drawn across their interior face, completely
shuts off the bema from the nave if, as is frequently
the case, the doors are of open carved wood work.
The door on the north of the holy doors leads into the
chapel of the prothesis, that on the south gives access
to the diaconicon.
The bema contains the /io/y table [ayia Tpdire^a),
which is usually rather low and square in shape, having
four pillars at the corners supporting a canopy or
baldakin like that over the high altar in St. Ambrose
at Milan. On the holy table is kept the Book of the
Gospels, always magnificently bound, a cross used for
blessing the people and for them to kiss, and a cor-
poral of linen or silk called the aiitimms, which has a
small portion of relics sewn into a little bag in the
corner. The antimins is always kept carefully wrapped
up in a piece of silk, and is not allowed to be touched
by the laity. On the eastern side of the holy table
are a cross and candlesticks, as with us. The Eucharist
is frequently reserved in a little box suspended by
chains between the two eastern pillars of the baldakin.
DESCRIPTION OF A GREEK CHURCH 55
Behind the altar a seat generally runs round the wall
of the apse, having in the centre the seat of the bishop
of the diocese, called the synthronos {crvi'dpovos), so
that when seated in it he faces the holy table. The
walls of the bema are often hung with small icons,
valuable chiefly on account of their antiquity — for the
older an icon is the more it is worth in the eyes of its
owner — and therefore given a place of honour in the
sanctuary ; there are also generally a few cupboards
containing the relics and the more precious of the
monastic treasures.
In the chapel of the prothesis is a small table This
is used for the office of the prothesis, or the prepara-
tion for the liturgy, in which the priest and the deacon
prepare the bread and wine in a very complicated and
symbolical manner. On this table are usually kept
the chalice and paten and certain other articles con-
nected with the liturgy.
In the diaconicon are chests for vestments, charcoal
for incense, censers, *&c.
In the nave (this term includes the transepts) stalls
(o-rao-tSta) run completely round the walls. These are
furnished with misereres, as in the West. They are prin-
cipally used for standing places, as the monks rarely sit
during Divine service. The esonarthex is also provided
with stalls. In the chord of each transept is placed a
high octagonal stool panelled all round to the ground and
usually inlaid with tortoise-shell and mother o' pearl ;
this is called the analogion {avaXoyiov). On these
stools or desks the canonarches [Kavou(ip)(yj<s), or ruler
of the quire, rests his book as he goes from side to
side prompting the cantors — generally three or four
monks who sing the psalms without books. The last
56 MOUNT ATHOS
Stall on either hand, nearest the centre of the church,
is a place of honour ; these are usually fashioned
like thrones ; that on the south side is the bishop's
throne and may be used by any bishop, and so differs
from the seat in the bema, which may only be used
by the bishop of the diocese ; that on the north side
is the throne of the abbot or superior of the monas-
tery. Against the pillars which support the central
dome icons are frequently placed, and before every
icon are lamps and standard candlesticks. Beneath
the dome hangs a corona {jrokvikaioi), generally of
open brass work and suspended from the roof by long
chains. This corona, usually of the same circumfer-
ence as the dome itself, is filled with candles of every
size, and from it are suspended ostrich eggs and
occasionally lamps as well.
Besides this large corona the smaller domes are
frequently provided with others ; and candelabra of
brass and silver of various sizes are suspended from
other parts of the roof.
At Athos the whole of the interior of the church,
without exception, is covered with frescoes of Scrip-
tural and historical subjects and of saints. In the
narthex is represented the martyrdom of the saints ;
in the pronaos the favourite subjects are the Last
Judgment and scenes from the Apocalypse.
The floors of the various parts of the building are
paved with coloured marbles and mosaics, and, as there
are no carpets or seats other than the stalls round the
walls, these variegated marbles add to the general
richness of the decorations. Along the east side of the
pronaos is a seat of stone or marble. The gates
between the pronaos and the narthex are called the
SYMBOLISM OF AN EASTERN CHURCH 57
Beautiftd Gates ; the gates between the narthex and
the nave are also sometimes called by this name, for
Byzantine ecclesiology is very confused in its terms.
This Scripture name reminds one of the symbolical
character of a Byzantine church, which reproduces to a
certain extent the divisions of the Temple. Much of
the worship and the ceremonies of the Eastern Church
are borrowed from the Jewish ritual, and are probably
very similar to those of the early Christian converts
from Judaism, who would naturally adapt their wor-
ship from that of the Temple. This is a very interesting
subject, which it would be here out of place to follow^ up.
Briefly, then, the symbolism is the following :
The Bema represents the Holy of Holies.
The Quire represents the Holy Place.
The Nave represents the Court of the Jews.
The Narthex represents the Court of the Gentiles.
This will be the better appreciated, and the different
degrees of sacredness appertaining to the various parts
of the church will *be more easily understood, if I
quote a passage from Texier's work on Byzantine
architecture.^
The Christian community was then divided into three classes :
the first consisted of those who ministered in holy things, and had
the power of conferring the ministry on others ; the second, of those
who had been baptised and admitted to communion ; the third and
last, of those who had been excluded from Christian communion and
had returned to the right path with tears of repentance, imploring
forgiveness from God. Included in the last class were also those
who, though devoted in spirit to Christ, had not yet received baptism,
but were being taught the principles of the Christian faith. They
bore the name of Catechumens.
* Texier and Pullan's Byzantine Architecture^ chapter on the * Cere-
monies of the Primitive Christian Church,' p. 70.
58 MOUNT ATHOS
To the first order the most secret part of the temple (the
sacrarium, bema, or sanctuary) was open. This part was separated
from the rest of the temple by veils and barriers, in order that it
might appear still more sacred, and that the sight of the service
should be hidden from those who were not worthy to see it.
The second had access to the middle part of the temple, the
nave, where the faithful assisted at the service.
The third and last were admitted to the exterior portico, called
the narihex, only, and did not enter into the church except when
they were summoned, and went out the moment when the deacon,
mounted on a raised place, proclaimed with a loud voice that it was
time for their expulsion.
The Auditors [he has explained before that these were Gentiles
who were anxious to learn something of the Christian faith] remained
in the lower part of the nart/iex, or in the exonarthex (exterior
porch) ; the esonarthex (interior porch), where there were two
porches, being reserved for the Catechumens.
In modern times (and in speaking of the Eastern
Church ' modern ' goes a long way back) these dis-
tinctions have been, to a very great extent, aboHshed,
through ahered circumstances ; for there are but few-
catechumens in these days compared with those in the
first ages of Christianity, and penitential discipline has
been relaxed, so that deadly sins no longer necessarily
bring the ecclesiastical punishment of excommunication ;
thus the nave and nartheces are now used indiscrimi-
nately by all worshippers, and their varying dignity is
only acknowledged by certain portions of the services
being performed in different parts of the church. But
the sanctuary still belongs to the clergy alone. No
layman may remain behind the iconostasis during
Divine service ; none but the clergy may at any
time pass through the holy doors or walk between the
altar and the iconostasis. No woman may enter the
sanctuary even out of service time. One more point
CATIIOLICON AT VATOPEDI 59
in connection with the interior of the churches needs a
brief notice. In the East it is forbidden for more than
one mass to be celebrated at the same altar on the same
day. To avoid this where there are many priests it is
usual to find side chapels, or paracclesia, connected
with large churches. A paracclesi differs from a
Western side chapel in being invariably distinct from
the principal church, only communicating with the
latter by a door. It always ' orientates ' and is a com-
plete little church, with iconostasis, bema, narthex, &c.
The favourite position for these chapels is on each side
of the nave, so that they are entered from the exo-
narthex of the principal church, which is continued
along beyond the north and south boundary of the
nave so as to form the nartheces of the paracclesia.
They are frescoed and decorated like the principal
church.
The catholicon at Vatopedi (dedicated to the Four
Evangelists) has an esonarthex, an exonarthex, and
a pronaos. The nave is 37^ feet from the west
door to the iconostasis ; the extreme width across the
transepts is 50 feet ; and the bema is 1 7 feet from
east to west and 1 5 feet across, not including the side
chapels of the prothesis and diaconicon. The apse of
the bema is polygonal.
Attached to the catholicon are four paracclesia, two
on the ground floor and two on an upper floor. Of
those on the level of the church that on the north side
of the nave is dedicated to St. Demetrius of Salonica,
that on the south to St. Nicholas. The other two are
dedicated the one to the Archangels, the other to the As-
sumption of the Blessed Virgin. We were very much
struck with the interior of this church : it was the first
6o MOUNT ATHOS
we had visited on the Holy Mountain, and it is one of the
finest, if not the finest, of all the Athos churches. The
frescoes, which completely cover the walls, the richness
of the marble pavement, all oi opus Alexandrinum, the
glitter of the metal work, the icons, the lamps, the can-
delabra, partly of brass, partly of silver gilt, and lastly
the enormous corona of open brass work, hanging
under the central dome, all this wealth of colour and
brightness is softened by the subdued light which
the few and narrow windows admit, so as to form a
picture not easily to be forgotten.
The frescoes, unfortunately, have been repainted ;
probably extensive restoration was necessary after the
troubles of the war of independence, when Turkish
troops were quartered on the monasteries for several
years. Over the doorway in the exonarthex is a
mosaic representing Christ with St. Mary and St. John ;
two other mosaics, one on each side of this doorway,
represent St. Mary and St. Gabriel. These mosaics
furnish additional evidence of the antiquity of the
building, this form of decoration being very rare at
Athos. We were conducted behind the iconostasis to
see the relics and some of the principal treasures, which
are kept in a cupboard in the bema. The relics are a
piece of the reed used at our Saviour's Passion, a large
piece of the True Cross (nearly every convent on
Athos claims the honour of possessing a portion of this
great relic, and, considering their intimate connection
with the early Emperors of Constantinople, if not with
Constantine himself, their claims are not unreasonable ^),
^ St. Paulinus, writing seventy-seven years after the Invention of the
Cross, boldly asserts that the Holy Wood multiplied itself to provide for
the pious wants of the faithful, ' Quae quidem crux in materia insensata
vim vivam tenens, ita ex illo tempore innumeris pene quotidie hominum
VATOPEDI RELICS 61;
a piece of the girdle of the Blessed Virgin, the skulls of
St. Gregory the Theologue, St, Andrew of Crete,^ and
St. Modestus.^ From the last proceeds a sweet odour
(euwSta), which one constantly perceives on closely ap-
proaching these Eastern relics.
The Greeks maintain that this is a supernatural
perfume, a sort of ' odour of sanctity.' Whether this
is the case, or whether it merely proceeds from the
spices with which the body was originally embalmed,
and so has given rise to the superstition, I cannot
say.
St. Mary's girdle is a narrow strip of some red
material, as far as one can judge, sewn with gold thread
and ornamented with pearls.^ It is sent to Constan-
tinople or great cities of the Levant when the plague
appears in them. Mr. Jerningham says of it,* * It is
a curious fact, but one which I can vouch for as correct,
that cholera cases actually diminished from the very
time of the appearance of the girdle in Constantinople ; '
votis lignum suum commoflat, ut detrimenta non sentiat, et quasi intacta
permaneat quotidie dividua sumentibus, et semper tota venerantibus '
\Ep. 31, written to Severus, a.d. 403).
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, writing before this, only twenty years after the
Invention, instances the distribution of the Wood of the Cross as one of
the testimonies to Christ. To ^vKov to ayiov tov a-ravpov fiapTvpel, fiexP'-
(TTjiifpov nap' ffplv (fyaivopevov, Koi 8ia rmv Kara ttictti.v e^ avrov Xap^avdvrav,
fVTfvdev TTjv olKovp,evT]v iraa-av a-)((bov rjbr] TrKrjpaaav {Cat. lo, 19).
* Archbishop of Crete in 712. He was a great hymnologist, and com-
posed the hymn beginning, ' Christian ! dost thou see them ?' and another
of 300 stanzas, called the Great Canon, which is sung through on the
Thursday in Mid- Lent.
'^ Consecrated as Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem on the capture of the
Patriarch Zacharias by Chosroes II. in A.D. 614. After the death of
Zacharias, Modestus succeeded to the See.
* Discovered in the time of Leo the Great and originally preserved in
the church at Chalcoprate. See Du Cange, Constant. Christ. 4. 2. 6.
* To and from Constantinople, by Herbert Jerningham. London, 1873.
62 MOUNT ATHOS
he adds, ' so powerful is prejudice in the popular
mind.'
The cases which contain these relics are very fine,
especially the inner cases of the relics of the Cross and
of the girdle ; the outer are comparatively modern.
The skulls are all set in wrought silver. Besides the
relics there are several other most interesting objects.
One is a cross called the Cross of Constantine, and is
said to have been made out of one of the five pieces
into which the Labarum of Constantine the Great was
afterwards divided. Most of my readers will remember
the story of the apparition to Constantine of the fiery
cross in the heavens before the battle of Saxa Rubra,
A.u. 312, with the words, *Ev tovtc^ viKa; how the
Emperor caused a cross to be made as his standard, and
having defeated his enemies, ordained that the Labarum
should be the sacred standard of the empire.^ The cross
appears to be of oak ; it is covered with plates of
silver gilt of ancient Byzantine workmanship. There
is also a jasper patera, said to have belonged to Con-
stantine ; it is set on a foot of silver gilt, and two
dragons of the same metal form the handles. Behind
the altar (for convenience' sake I shall frequently use
the Western synonym for the holy table, though in the
language of the Eastern Church the whole bema is
called the altar) is an ancient icon of the Blessed
Virgin, before which is a large candlestick. The story
goes that in the ninth century, during the irruption of
the Saracens, the icon and the lamp which burnt before
it were put down a well for safety. Many years after-
wards, when the hidden treasure was hauled up again,
the lamp which accompanied it was found to be still
' Eusebius, Vita Const, i. cc. 28-30.
MIRACULOUS ICON 63
burning. This light is now inclosed in the large
candlestick, and a lump of wax placed near the wick
keeps it continually alight. Before leaving the sanctuary
I ought to mention that the silver incense boats and
thuribles which are kept there are of fine workmanship,
and are for the most part ancient. Two sorts of censers
are used in the East, one with chains, as with us, the other
somewhat like a hand candlestick ; this is held in the
hand and waved by a motion of the wrist. Both invari-
ably have bells attached to them, which tinkle as they
are moved. The iconostasis is of eighteenth-century
carved wood work, heavily gilt. At the south end of
the narthex are the tombs of certain benefactors, and
their effigies are painted on the wall above the place
where they lie.
In a little passage which runs between the narthex
and the paracclesi of St, Demetrius is an icon of the
Virgin which is said to have one day called to the
Empress Pulcheria ^ as she was going to her devotions
in the great church, saying, ' What do you, a woman,
here ? A queen you are, it is true, but there is
another Queen here. Depart from this church, for
women's feet no more shall tread this floor.' It seems
rather hard that poor Pulcheria should have been
banished from the monastery she loved so well and
from the church she had adorned ; but the monks say
that the holy empress obeyed the heavenly direction
and never again saw her beautiful columns nor prayed
on that sacred floor, and that from that day no woman
or female animal has been allowed to set foot on the
shores of the Holy Mountain. This, then, is the
' Other historians, e.g. Comnenus, again substitute Placidia for Pul-
cheria^ and put the date of the occurrence as A.D. 382.
64 MOUNT ATHOS
monastic tradition concerning the origin of this extra-
ordinary prohibition.^
In the narthex of the chapel of St. Demetrius^ is
another miraculous icon, about which we were told the
following story : A deacon being late for supper was
refused his usual commons ; wandering sulkily about
the courtyard, he entered the church, and in a fit of
anger struck his knife into the painting of Our Lady
on the wall, when, to his horror, blood issued from the
wound and slowly trickled down the picture. Instantly
moved to repentance, he spent three years in a little
open cupboard (which still exists) opposite the picture.
When he died he was buried in peace, but, at his own
request, the offending hand was cut off before his
body was consigned to the earth, since he wisely pre-
ferred to enter into life maimed rather than having
two hands to be cast into everlasting fire ; for the
Holy Virgin had appeared to him in a dream, and had
told him that she forgave him^ but would never for-
give his hand. This hand is still preserved in a box
and was shown to us.
One more icon, and my stories are at an end. Near
the south end of the pronaos is another fresco of the
Virgin on the wall, and here on a peg are hung the
keys of the church, under the guardianship of the
Panaghia. One day the hegoumenos, or abbot, was
about to take them down to open the church, when a
voice proceeded from the icon warning him not to do
so, as there were robbers about.
After we had thoroughly examined the catholicon
we crossed the court of orange trees to the refectory,
' I infer from a note in Muralt's Essai de Chronographie Byzantine
that there was a nun at Athos who died about the year 1098.
^ Of Alexandria, A.D. 189-231.
EASTERN MONASTICISM 65
which is a cruciform building of brick and stone of
considerable antiquity. It is now only used on feast
days, when monks and pilgrims dine together after the
liturgy is over ; for Vatopedi is no longer a ccenobite
monastery, but has changed its government to the
idior rhythmic rule, and in a convent of this kind the
monks do not eat at a common table save on great
occasions. The refectory contains a number of marble
tables, of all shapes and sizes, provided with rude stone
seats. Twelve tables are placed on each side of this
hall, with one at the west end for the presidents or
other great persons ; two more are situated in one
transept and three in the other.
As I have already had to use the words ccenobite 2ind
tdior rhythmic, it may be proper to explain in this place
the difference between the two forms of government,
as well as the system of Oriental monasticism.
We are in the habit of calling the rule by which
Eastern monks live the Rule of St. Basil, just as we
speak of the Rule of St. Benedict or the Rule of St.
Dominic in the West. As a matter of fact Oriental
monks are not governed by any code of laws laid down
by any particular saint or founder, but are bound by
the canons, i.e. the monastic disciplinary enactments
of the CEcumenical Councils of the Catholic Church,
especially of that part of the Sixth Council known as
the Concilium in Triillo. Added to these fundamental
laws are various traditional customs which have de-
scended for the most part from antiquity, customs of
universal acceptance and customs of particular religious
houses. Many holy monks and hermits, it is true,
have inculcated in their writings precepts of monastic
virtue, as St. Basil, or have left bright examples in
F
66 MOUNT ATHOS
their lives, as St. Anthony ; but none ever compiled a
formal code of rules, as the founders of the great
Western orders did. Another point of difference be-
tween Eastern and Western monasticism is, that whilst
the latter became, to the undoubted advantage of the
world, the guardian and the teacher of universal learning,
so that the cultivation of the arts and sciences has now
come to be looked upon in the West as an attribute
of monasticism, in the East the old idea of the religious
life has existed to the present day — that the monk is
one who has left the world simply for the sake of a
closer union with the Unseen, and that the study and
the propagation of worldly learning, though not for-
bidden, form no essential part of the system, but are
rather the accidents of time or place. Thus to an
Oriental the highest ideal of a religious would not be
a Duns Scotus or a Mabillon, but rather a simple and
uninstructed ascetic, living in a cave, far removed from
men and human interests, possessed of no books save
perchance the Holy Scriptures, a few service books, and
the writings of the saints, if so be that he can read,
spending his time when not in prayer in the cultiva-
tion of the vegetables that form his daily food. But,
although all Eastern religious follow but one rule, there
are the two classes of monasteries of which I have
already spoken, the coenobite and the idiorrhythmic.
The former is on the lines of a Western monastery,
with inmates governed by an abbot to whom they owe
implicit obedience, and having all goods in common.
In an idiorrhythmic monastery each monk lives as he
pleases ; if rich he has a suite of apartments, if poor he
shares a cell with a brother. Disciplme is kept up by
public opinion rather than by authority ; a monk is not
CCENOBITE AND IDIORRHYTHMIC CONVENTS 67
bound to attend vespers, but if he omitted to do so two
days running without vaHd excuse his brethren would
begin to talk about his laxity and to show signs of
disapproval. Instead of an abbot an idiorrhythmic
convent is governed by a deliberative assembly and
two or three annually elected presidents. Several
minor points in connection with this form of rule ^
will be found in the subsequent chapters of this
book.
As to the history of these two kinds of convents,
but little that is definite can be said. Monasteries
arose from the custom of hermits living together for
mutual benefit, and were at the first nothing but
collections of hermitages. The establishment of a
distinct ccenobium, with a common life and a single
ruler, was a later development. One would like to
discover in the modern idiorrhythmic convent a sur-
vival of the old latira, or hermit village, but it seem.s
probable that it is a comparatively modern return to
the ancient custom, the product of laxity of discipline
rather than that of anachronistic conservatism.^
Gass is of opinion that this rule took its rise from
the fact of rich men entering the monastic order and
becoming troublesome to the abbot, and he states that
the first trace of it is to be found in the fourteenth
century.^ It is extremely curious that no travellers
on Mount Athos before 1840 notice the distmction
between the coenobite and idiorrhythmic monasteries,
' I shall use the expressions coenobite rttle and idiorrhythmic rule for
the sake of convenience.
- But Vatopedi became a ccenobium \x\ 1557 (see 'O "a^cbv, by Manuel
Gedeon, Constantinople, 1885); so it seems that it was before that date
idiorrhythmic, as now.
^ Zur Geschichte dcr Athos-Klbster^ 1865.
F 2
68 MOUNT ATHOS
although it is certain that they must have existed side
by side for at least a considerable period.
The monks are divided into two classes, the
dokimos (SoActjao?), or novice, and the caloyer {Kokoyepo^,
literally a good old man), or professed monk.
The caloyers, again, are divided into three grades —
rhasophoria (pacrocftopLa), the little habit (to yuKpov
o^rjjxa) and the great habit (to jxeya cr^-^/xa).^ The
great habit is a sort of black scapular, in shape not
unlike the epitrachelion, or Eastern priest's stole, worked
with the cross, lance, sponge, skull and cross bones,
and other pious designs in faint outline. This scapular
is, I think, only assumed for the Holy Communion,
and is retained in wear during the rest of the day after
the reception of that Sacrament ; ordinarily there is
nothing in their dress to distinguish the monks of the
great habit from the others. The monastic habit con-
sists of a double-breasted cassock, generally of black,
but sometimes of a dark and sober tint of brown,
confined at the waist by a belt. Over this the monks
wear a gown with loose sleeves in church and on other
public occasions, as well as a veil or hood of light
material, which is thrown over the high hat and falls
behind below the shoulders. Like the Nazarites of
old they never cut their hair on head or face.
To return to our exploration of Vatopedi : After
visiting the refectory we were taken to see the oil
stores. They are vaulted with brick, and contain enor-
mous jars and marble receptacles like sarcophagi.
' But very few enter this, the highest monastic grade, which entails
almost complete withdrawal from earthly things and a life entirely devoted
to religious exercises. The great majority of the Athos monks belong to
the second grade, of the little habit, though many assume the great
habit on their death beds.
VATOPEDI LIBRARY 69
Opposite the entrance is a marble tank in which the oil
was miraculously replenished, as in the widow's cruse,
but not at the prayers of Elijah or of Elisha, but at
those of the Mother of God, whose icon is placed close
to it. Not far from the oil stores is a building con-
taining the great winepress. It is constructed of heavy
beams and timber, and is said to be capable of holding
200,000 okes of grapes, or rather over 253 tons. This
is clearly an exaggeration, although it is certainly of a
very great size.
Each of the 220 monks of Vatopedi draws his
commons of wine every day ; so do their 130 servants ;
and, as at the Monastery of Iveron I was told that a
hundred hermits and poor people are fed there with
bread and wine every day, besides the pilgrims that
come on great occasions, we may reasonably suppose
that an equal number of mendicants are supplied
with wine at Vatopedi, for Vatopedi is about the same
size as Iveron. Thus the consumption of wine in the
course of the year must be enormous. Probably the
monks meant that the total weight of grapes used in
the year amounted to 200,000 okes.
The library is a pleasant, well-arranged room, situ-
ated in one of the towers on the sea front of the monas-
tery. There are 627 manuscripts, besides a number
of printed books. A monk of Vatopedi, called Neo-
phytus of Brousa, took the trouble to make a catalogue,
which he began in 1867 and finished in 1874. Among
the manuscripts we noticed a fine illuminated evan-
gelistarium, the whole of the works of St. Chrysostom
(eleventh century), a small quarto psalter of the same
age, a late illuminated manuscript of the liturgies, and
a very curious old geography of Ptolemy with maps.
70 MOUNT ATHOS
We were next taken over the hospital, which is on the
east side of the monastery, buih in the form of a square,
three sides of which contain rooms for the sick, sup-
ported over cloisters ; the whole is clean and airy. A
Greek doctor — from Athens, I fancy — is maintained by
the monks at Vatopedi and has rooms in the hospital.
We sat on a divan at the end of the passage under a
window which looks towards the sea, and there amongst
a crowd of eager monks we held forth on the subject
of the English Church and the unity of Christendom.
The principal speakers were ourselves, our friend the
Archbishop, and the ephoros of the hospital, a very in-
telligent old man, by name Eugenius, the other monks
merely listening attentively and every now and then
giving vent to exclamations of surprise or pleasure.
Round went the photographs of English churches and
the Archbishop of Canterbury, and I took the oppor-
tunity of distributing several of the leaflets of the
Association for the Promotion of the Union of Chris-
tendom, in Greek. Eugenius had read the Thirty-nine
Articles, and said he only objected to No. 19. I was
anxious to keep the discussion to points of agreement
between our two Churches and to avoid differences ;
so, resolving not to defend my position but to beat a
dignified retreat, ' Ah,' said I, ' perhaps we are wrong ;
only one Church is infallible.' This of course produced
a general laugh and a chorus of ' Polycala'
* When in doubt play a trump ' is an old whist rule :
Rome is the trump card here.
In the cool of the evening we walked towards a
little kiosk behind the cemetery, which overlooks the
gardens by the sea. On the way we met the Arch-
bishop and two of the epitropoi, or presidents of the
TRANSUBSTANTIATION 7 1
monastery. One of the latter, an old man with a long
grey beard, presented us with a little bunch of sweet
basil, which they had just gathered from the garden.^
The trifling courtesy of this venerable monk quite
touched us ; it was bestowed with such quiet dignity.
At sunset we had supper, and a very fair one too.
Afterwards we had a discussion with a theological pro-
fessor of Chalki, the archimandrite Baphldes, like us
a visitor to Athos, on Transubstantiation and Anglican
orders. With regard to the former he said :
* We believe the same as the Latins, for we admit
the word transubstantiation into our formularies.'
The latter statement is true ; the Greeks have
adopted the word as a synonym of transmutation, but
as a matter of fact they do not attach the same meaning
to it as the Romans do, never having accepted or even
considered the scholastic philosophy on which the
Roman theory of substance and accident is based.
We pointed this out to the archimandrite, and after
some discussion he admitted the truth of our criticism.
' For,' said he, * we hold the doctrines of the holy
fathers without any addition whatever, and by the
term transubstantiation we do not intend to define the
doctrine of the Eucharist after the philosophy of the
schoolmen ; we merely use the term for the sake of
convenience.'
The Greeks derive their information respecting
Anglican orders chiefly through Roman channels — that
is to say, when they obtain any information about
them at all — so the archimandrite was very anxious to
^ According to the popular belief amongst the Greeks it was in a bed
of this tender herb that Our Lord's Cross was invented. On this account
they love to have the plant about them, in their gardens and in their
houses.
72 MOUNT ATHOS
discuss the subject with us, especially as he was writing
a Church history for the use of the students at Chalki
(the principal ecclesiastical seminary of the Constan-
tinopolitan patriarchate), and intended to devote a
chapter to the Anglican Church. Our conversation
lasted till past midnight, when we went to bed some-
what tired by our day's exertions.
LITURGY OF ST. GREGORY DIALOGOS 73
CHAPTER VI.
yTfyJi°- This morning O — celebrated the Anglican
liturgy, the Archbishop, the archimandrite Baphides,
and several monks of the highest dignity being present
at their own request. Afterwards, during breakfast,
the Archbishop turned round to us and said, * Your
liturgy is the liturgy of St. Gregory Dialogos.' ^ We
ventured to doubt this exalted origin, and replied that
we had every reason to believe it was compiled by
certain excellent gentlemen who lived in the sixteenth
century ; but the Archbishop was not to be contradicted.
' No,' said he ; ' I have studied it carefully, and it is
the liturgy of St. Gregory Dialogos, and a very good
liturgy too.'
The monks had told us that we ought to take the
earliest opportunity of going to Caryes, where the
Holy Synod of Mount Athcs sits, to present our cre-
dentials and to receive at its hands a circular letter of
commendation to all the monasteries ; so word had
been sent early this morning that we intended to do
ourselves the honour of visiting the Holy Synod that
day.
When breakfast was over we were conducted to
the gate of the monastery, where our mules were wait-
ing for us. Rich carpets being thrown over the heavy
* Pope Gregory the Great.
74 MOUNT ATHOS
framework of the saddles, we mounted and rode off in
the following order : On the first mule was Pantele,
the Archbishop's cavass, carrying his master's long
silver-headed stick ; he was preceded by one of the
Christian soldiers in the service of the monks (two or
three of whom are stationed at each of the principal
monasteries) in his picturesque Albanian dress of a
fustinella, or voluminous white calico kilt, and a jacket
embroidered with gold, carrying an old-fashioned flint-
lock musket with an immensely long barrel. Pantele
was followed by the Archbishop, with his cassock
tucked up and gaiters over his full Oriental trousers ;
then came O — ; then myself ; the Archbishop's valet,
Peter, and lastly our dragoman, Angelos, with some
muleteers on foot.
The road to Caryes is paved with large rough
stones.^ As we were not accustomed to mule-riding on
Athos roads, we thought the path very steep in places.
Afterwards, when we had completed the circuit of the
monasteries, we travelled over this road again, and
wondered how we could ever have called it bad. As
a matter of fact it is about the best on the peninsula.
After leaving the monastery we mounted to a consi-
derable height, from which we had a splendid view of
Vatopedi, its beautiful bay, and the Strymonic gult,
with the island of Thasos in the distance. On our
left were the ruins of the college founded in 1 750 by
Eugenius Bulgaris — a doubtful experiment, which failed
five years later. They occupy a commanding position
on the top of the hill overlooking the bay of Vatopedi
and the sea. We did not visit them, but from the
' The Athos roads were first paved by an ex-Patriarch of Constanti-
nople, Dionysius by name, about the middle of the last century.
ROAD TO CARYES 75
distance they appeared to be but little injured, though
roofless. They consisted of a master's lodge and i 70
small rooms for students. Eugenius Bulgaris was
advanced to the see of Chersonesus by the Empress
Catharine of Russia.
The ride to Caryes is certainly one of the most de-
lightful on Athos ; the whole road is shaded by beautiful
trees — sweet chestnuts, oaks, and beeches — with thick
shrubberies on either side of box and laurel, whilst
vines, and honeysuckle, and creepers of every kind
twine themselves round the tree trunks or hang in
festoons over the path. After we had reached the
highest point of our road we continued along the east
side of the central ridge. At one spot we rested to
enjoy the distant view of the Monastery of Panto-
cratoros ; at another we watered our mules at a pretty
fountain fed by water from the hills, and refreshed
ourselves by sitting for a quarter of an hour under the
shade of the trees. The Archbishop was anxious we
should taste this water, which he said was * light ' and
far superior to that at Vatopedi, which was ' heavy.'
Just before entering Caryes we passed the Serai, or
Russian skete of St. Andrew, on our left, and had a
view of it through the trees. We now encountered a
troop of hermits and beggars, most of whom rushed
up to kiss the Archbishop's hand and to receive his
blessing. Many of them were Russians.
Caryes is situated high up ^ on the side of the hill,
which is covered with luxuriant vegetation and the
hazel groves from which the town is generally said to
derive its name [Kapvai, hazels). It seems to me,
however, that a more likely derivation is from Kapa, a
^ 2,195 feet above the sea.
76 MOUNT ATHOS
head^ as being the chief centre of the promontory and
the seat of government. I do not remember to have
seen this derivation suggested by any writers except
Didron, and he gives another and a curious reason
for it.
La capitale du mont Athos s'appelle Kar^s ; suivant la plupart et
les plus instruits des moines, elle prendrait son nom de Ka[m, tete,
parce qu'un pape, revenant de Constantinople, ou on n'aurait pas
voulu reconnaitre son autorite, aborda au mont Athos et fit trancher
les tetes de tous les moines de Karbs qui refusbrent de lui preter
serment.^
The town consists of a collection of houses amon^jst
orchards, gardens, and vineyards — through which count-
less little streams run down from the mountain side
— and one long" irregular street with two or three lesser
ones opening into it. In this street is the bazaar, and
awnings are stretched across it to shelter the wares
and their owners, for the most part monks, who sit
outside their shops and gossip the whole day through.
Nearly all the goods are exposed for sale on stands
outside the shops themselves, which are sometimes
of one story, but often consist of only a ground floor.
This bazaar with its awnings and cords across the
street, the trellised vines which hang over the houses,
and the picturesque crowd of sombre caloyers and gay
coi,micoi^ with here and there a turbaned Turk, form
a charming picture. The chief wares are shoes, coarse
cloth, ready-made garments of various descriptions,
monastic hats and lay brothers' hats ; the former high
and stiff for the professed monks, lower and soft for
the dokimoi, or novices ; the latter small and grey in
' Manuel (f Iconographie Chrdtienne, 1845.
"^ Laymen ; literally ' men of the world.'
CARYES 77
colour, usually with some religious mark impressed
upon the crown. Besides these articles of dress there
are groceries, barrels full of rice, sugar, and coffee,
American tinned lobster, tinned sardines (both of these
being in great request), and dried octopus hanging up
on nails.
Three or four shops are devoted to the sale of pious
pictures, rosaries, wooden crosses carved by hermits,
and other religious objects of Athos manufacture ;
also incense, of which there are two sorts, the com-
moner, that comes in lumps from Palestine, and a
more precious and expensive kind made on the Holy
Mountain. Coarse tobacco may be purchased here ;
one or two persons undertake the repair of clocks and
watches, and there are several brass candlestick and
bell founders.
One does not immediately perceive the chief
peculiarity of Caryes, for the strangeness of the entire
life of Athos deadens one's senses to all impressions of
the unusual, and it is not until the traveller has walked
up through the bazaar and down again that it suddenly
strikes him that all the people who throng the little
street are men ! And so it is. Here is a tinker
mending pots and pans, but no wife stands in the
doorway or prepares her husband's supper. Next door
there is a cobbler, hard at work at his last ; the tall
hat proclaims him to be a monk, so in his case a
spouse would not be expected. There are, it is true,
a few boys, who have accompanied their fathers from
the mainland ; but you may listen in vain for infant
cries or the treble voice of the fair sex. No pretty
face peeps out from the vine-clad windows ; no lover
waits in the street below. Caryes is still what it has
78 MOUNT ATHOS
been for centuries, the only town in all the world with-
out a single woman.
We arrived at the house belonging to Vatopedi at
about two o'clock, having occupied between two hours
and a half and three hours on the journey. A young
monk, whose name was Dimopoulos — to whom I had
brought a letter of recommendation from a Greek
friend in England — received us ; he was the secretary
of the Holy Synod. Two other monks from Vatopedi
looked after our wants, first bringing us the inevitable
glyko (preserves or sweetmeats), mastica (a coarse
spirit flavoured with mastic), and coffee, and then pre-
paring an excellent luncheon of fish, which, as we were
very hungry after our long ride, we thoroughly enjoyed.
Afterwards we sat on a divan and smoked and drank
more coffee whilst we conversed with the monk
Dimopoulos on all sorts of topics until the time came
to visit the Holy Synod.
It may be as well to insert in this place an account
of the government of Athos, the particulars of which
the secretary of the Synod himself gave me.
When Murad H. was overrunning the Empire of
the East and, though repulsed from before the walls of
Constantinople in 1422, had taken Thessalonica in 1430,
the monks of Mount Athos, deprived of the imperial
support and determined to accept the inevitable, sub-
mitted to the Turkish Sultan whilst they could make
terms ; thus they put themselves under his rule on
the condition that their ancient privileges should be
respected and that they should be allowed to govern
themselves. To these terms the conqueror acceded,
and the Holy Mountain became incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire about the year 1448, five years before
GOVERNMENT 79
the fall of Constantinople. Since then the monks
have enjoyed the practical independence which still
belongs to them.
The present Turkish staff at Caryes consists of the
caimacan, or governor, his secretary, a chief constable,
an assistant constable, a sergeant and ten zaptiehs, an
officer of customs with eight assistants, and an officer
of health. As all these officials, including the cai-
macan, are of course obliged to leave their harems
behind them, I fancy the posts are not much sought
after. The Holy Mountain being in the vilayet of
Salonica, the caimacan is responsible to the pasha of
that place.
The caimacan and his staff collect taxes and customs
and are responsible for the good order of the promon-
tory. In case of war it would be the governor's duty
to procure aid from the pasha for the protection of the
community ; otherwise he simply executes the will of
the Holy Synod and carries into effect the result of
its deliberations.
Until the end of the sixteenth century the supreme
government was entrusted to a single ruler, called
6 7r/3a)T09, ' the First Man,' but since that date it has
been administered by the Holy Synod of Mount Athos
(*H Wpa KoLvcoTTj'i tov 'AyCov "Opov; "AOto), which is
thus constituted :
First there are the twenty representatives of the
twenty monasteries (the sketes, or priories, have no
voice in the government of the community) called the
antiprosopoi (avTLTrpoawTroL).
Each monastery elects its antiprosopos on January
I, being the same day on which it appoints its epi-
tropoi if it be an idiorrhythmic house ; of these anti-
80 MOUNT ATHOS
prosopoi, or representatives, the one sent by the
Lavra — the monastery regarded as chief in rank —
called the proedros (TvpoeSpos), is the chairman. Be-
sides these there is a body composed of four epistatai
(eTTto-Tarat) and their chief, the proepistates [TrpoenL-
(TTdrr)<;). This latter personage is elected by these five
monasteries in turn : Lavra, Vatopedi, Chiliandari,
Iveron, and St. Dionysius. The epistatai are elected
by the other monasteries, on June i.
Thus in a full Synod there are twenty-five mem-
bers sitting. The proedros presides, like the Speaker
in the House of Commons ; the epistatai form a
sort of ministry, their chief, the proepistates, bringing
forward the questions ; and this body also carries
into effect whatever is decided by the whole Synod.
There is a secretary of the Synod (aya^^typa/x/xareus)
and a secretary of the epistatai (ypafiixaTevq). The
Synod is not only a legislative body, or parliament,
but also a criminal court and a court of appeal.
For instance, supposing my watch were stolen in
the bazaar at Caryes, and I suspected any person, I
should complain to the caimacan, who would arrest the
man and hand him over to the Synod for trial. If he
were found guilty he would be returned to the caimacan
for punishment, when he would either deal summarily
with him, or, in serious cases, send the criminal to
Salon ica for trial and punishment at the hands of the
pasha.
To take another case : A monk at Vatopedi con-
siders himself aggrieved, and failing to obtain justice
from the crwa^t?, or governing assembly of his mon-
astery, appeals to the Holy Synod ; in this case its
decision is final, and there is no further appeal open
THE HOLY SYNOD 8 1
to him. On the other hand, two monasteries have a
dispute, as was recently the case with Xeropotamou
and Simopetra ; here they would appeal first to the
Synod, and if not contented with its judgment an
appeal would lie to the Oecumenical Patriarch at Con-
stantinople.
The Holy Synod meets on an average every second
day, and party feeling runs as high as possible in such
a grave, sleepy Oriental assembly on the great Russian
question, the Slavonic monasteries generally supporting
Russico (the Russian monastery) against the Greeks.
Each monastery pays a yearly tax to the Synod at the
rate of 150 piastres ^ for each monk living within the
convent and 130 for each of those living outside.
Monks at a skete pay 100 piastres a head. Out of
this fund 725/. is due to the Imperial Government ;
the remainder goes to the support of the Synod's little
army of twenty Christian soldiers, the repair of the
roads, and other necessary expenses.
To return : W^ord came at last that the Holy
Synod was sitting and was waiting to receive us.
So we started from the Vatopedi house and walked
through a little street or lane to the place where it was
assembled. First of the party walked Pantele with
the Archbishop's staff in his hand (silver-stick-in-
waiting we named him), then his master with his
veil over his hat, then O — and myself, followed by
Angelos and a little retinue of monks and lay folk.
As we went along pilgrims and monks would run up
to our prelate and seize his hand, rubbing their fore-
heads against it and kissing it ; and it was most
amusing to watch the truly Eastern manners of the
' The pound sterling is usually equivalent to about 120 piastres.
G
82 MOUNT ATIIOS
Archbishop, who did not take the slightest notice of
these poor people, but, leaving passively his hand in
their fervent grasp, would all the time be talking
pleasantly to us or else staring straight in front of
him. Of course every eye was turned on us, and from
every door and window a face peeped forth, anxious to
see the curious Franks that were progressing through
the monastic capital.
In a very few minutes we arrived at our destination,
and entering a courtyard were conducted by a crowd
of servants, monks and lay people, up an outside stair-
case to an open-air gallery on the first floor, which gave
access to the room where the Synod was assembled.
This was a large, rather long, and low apartment.
Round the room were divans, covered with green
damask, above which the walls were almost bare ; the
divan at the end of the room, opposite to that at which
we entered, was left vacant for us. On each side of the
room were sitting the members of the Synod, reverend
old gentlemen with long grey beards and tall hats, fifteen
in all, the president being seated in an arm-chair with
a table in front of him, and the secretary at his side.
As we entered the room they all rose, and placing
their hands on their hearts bowed very low, and re-
mained in that position whilst we, following the ex-
ample of the Archbishop, bowed to the right, bowed to
the left, and then, holding up our heads as if we were
accustomed to visit Holy Synods every day, walked
solemnly down the centre of the room and sat down on
the vacant divan at the end. Then the members of the
Synod seated themselves, and we all remained with our
eyes fixed upon the floor in a highly proper condition
of gravity and discomfort.
THE HOLY SYNOD S^
We waited and waited in dead silence, the old men
around us looking like the ghosts of departed fathers,
until we were relieved by the entrance of one of the
soldiers in his gay Albanian dress, bringing to us on a
tray glyko, mastica, and water. We each took one
spoonful of jam and placed our lips to the little glasses
of aromatic spirit, saluting at the same time the reverend
assembly on each side of us, our bows being returned
by similar inclinations. The soldier then departed
with the tray and left us just as we had been before.
* Now,' thought I, 'we shall proceed to business.' But
no ! still all were looking on the floor, and still not a
word was spoken !
In this way nearly five minutes passed, and matters
were getting extremely serious. I could feel the divan
on which I was sitting giving little convulsive jerks at
intervals, and 1 knew, although I dared not look to
see, that O — was on the point of laughing ; fortunately
for the dignity of the Anglican Church the representa-
tive of her hierarchy managed to keep his countenance.
At last the strain was slackened by the reappearance
of the soldier with his tray, this time containing little
cups of coifee, which we gulped down whilst he waited
for the cups and saucers to be returned, although the
liquid was so very hot that it brought tears to our eyes.
When he had finished his coffee the Archbishop, with-
out rising from the divan, commenced the proceedings
by a speech. Opening a small hand bag he produced
his letter of introduction from the Patriarch, giving it
to the nearest representative, who received it with a
bow and handed it over to the secretary, who read it
aloud to the assembly. The Archbishop then referred
to two or three little matters which the Patriarch had
G 2
84 MOUNT ATHOS
asked him to look after for him during his hoHday, and
made a few polite and complimentary remarks about
the Holy Mountain and its inhabitants.
* And now,' said he, * I have the pleasure of intro-
ducing to you these two distinguished English travellers,
members of the English Church, of which the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury is the head, who have come to
these sacred shores for the purpose of reporting on the
present state of the Orthodox Church and especially of
the holy monasteries,' Then he told them how we
had brought a letter from one of our bishops to the
CEcumenical Patriarch, and how his Holiness had
received us with great honour and had furnished us
with an introductory epistle to the Holy Synod, in
which they would find that we were most warmly
recommended ; and that, not content with that, his
Holiness had written to him, recommending us to his
charge, and how he had had the good fortune to fall
in with us at Cavalla. and so we had come to Athos
together ; that we were very learned persons who
knew all about Athos even before coming there, and
that we must see all that there was to be seen in the
place, and especially the libraries. ' Donnez-moi votre
lettre,' said he to O — , and the Patriarch's letter was
handed to him, and passed with sundry bows to the
secretary, who read it out as he had done the former
one.
' Now,' continued the Archbishop, ' let me introduce
to you by name these most distinguished Englishmen.
The first is the Most Reverend (cre^ao-/xt(UTaT09) Arthur
Brisco Owen, Priest of the Anglican Church (tt^s
'EKKhrjaias *Ayy\iKav'fj<s lepevs), Professor of Theology
in the University of Oxford ; and the other the Most
THE HOLY SYNOD 85
Illustrious Kyrios Athelstari Riley, Professor of Litera-
ture in the University of Oxford.'
As these sounding titles rolled out we each gave
a little nod at the mention of our names to establish
our identities, the whole speech being accompanied by
little bows and grunts of approval at intervals from
the members of the grave divan.
When the Archbishop had finished, the second
in dignity amongst the representatives made a little
speech — for the president was a Bulgarian and could
not speak Greek fluently — in which he welcomed us
to the Holy Mountain, said that they all felt much
honoured by having amongst them representatives of
the English Church, and assured us that the same
hospitality we had experienced at Vatopedi would be
snown to us all over the promontory.
Then through Angelos, who was sitting beside us
as our interpreter, I addressed a few words of thanks
to the good fathers on behalf of myself and my com-
panion ; told them^how I had long wished to visit this
cradle of Eastern orthodoxy, and that I was much
pleased to find that my desire was to be accomplished.
After the low murmur of applause which followed
my little oratorical effort had subsided, the assembly
thawed somewhat ; the Archbishop began to tell stories
about us, and soon the words ' liturgy ' and ' Gregory
Dialogos ' showed that the proper moment had arrived
for the exhibition of our photographs. So I pulled
them out of my pocket and sent them round the divans,
the photographs of the English chancels and altars
greatly assisting the Archbishop in his description of
what he had seen that morning. The whole Synod
got quite excited over this, and innumerable were the
86 MOUNT ATHOS
questions that were asked respecting minute points of
Anglican ritual.
' Do they belong to the Protestant Church ? ' (17
^EKKkyjcria hiai^apTvpovyievrj) , asked one monk.
' No,' said the Archbishop, ' they do not, or at least
not to what we call the Protestant Church ; for Protest-
ants have no liturgies, but only praying and preaching,
whereas this English priest celebrated a liturgy, and
the liturgy of St. Gregory Dialogos,' &c. &c. Here
followed a fresh description of our rites and customs.
* Perhaps they are Presbyterians,' said another ; ' I
have heard that they are not the same as the Pro-
testants.'
* No,' said the Archbishop ; * Presbyterians have no
bishops, and there are many bishops in the English
Church. Owen, show them the photograph of your
patriarch.'
Round went the portrait of the Archbishop of
Canterbury, and our good prelate, who had an excellent
memory and never forgot anything that we once told
him, showed that he had profited by our previous
conversations by delivering himself of what almost
amounted to an apology for the English Church, de-
scribing us roughly as a sort of Latin Church that
didn't believe in the Pope.
All this time the secretary was busily writing out
two circular letters of introduction to all the monasteries,
one for the Archbishop and one for us, and as soon as
they were ready he read them out aloud and stamped
them with the seal of the Synod, a die made in four
parts, each part being kept by one of the epistatai.
The following is a translation of the document given
to us:
LETTER OF COMMENDATION S7
To the Twenty Sacred and Reverend Monasteries of
the Holy Mountain Athos.
The bearers of this present letter, sealed with our common seal,
the most famous gentlemen Arthur Brisco Owen, priest of the Bishop
of Canterbury's English Church, and Kyrios Athelstan Riley, a man of
letters, both clever persons and lovers of ancient monuments, coming
here from England, are warmly recommended by his Religiousness
the Altogether Most Holy CEcumenical Patriarch, as being persons
particularly desirous of examining the ancient treasures in our sacred
monasteries, and also the libraries belonging to them, for purely
learned and scientific purposes. Therefore we also, recommending the
said two English antiquaries, exhort in a brotherly spirit the Holy
Monasteries to receive them gladly, to afford them all possible cour-
teous protection, to zealously supply them with everything in their
power that may be necessary for the easiest attainment of the learned
object they have in view, and, moreover, to facilitate their transport
from one monastery to another.
We conclude, foreseeing that our fraternal request will meet with
a favourable reception.
Carj-es : July 29, 1883.
All the Overseers and Governors oj the Twejify
Sacred Monasteries of the Holy Momitain Athos
in. Synod assembled.
A table was placed in the centre of the room, and a
book thereon, the Archbishop being asked to inscribe
his name in it. When he had finished they said they
hoped the Englishmen would do the same. I went
up first, amidst profound silence, everybody watching
the Frank as if he were a curious and rare wild beast.
I turned over the pages, which were covered with
wonderfully complicated Greek signatures, but could
not find any English ones. Seeing that it was proper
to put some remark or Scripture before one's name, I
wrote the following :
Agnus Dei, qui toUis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem,
55 MOUNT ATHOS
and added my name and college under it, also In
Latin. O — went up and simply inscribed his name
and style underneath mine. Instantly the book was
removed to the divan to see what we had written ; but
the language in which the sentence was clothed proved
too much for the united Synod until Dimopoulos, who
knew Latin, took up the book and read it out to them
in the vulgar tongue.
' Polycala,' said they, ' polycala. God grant us
unity ! ' And in several monasteries afterwards we
heard the echoes of the pleasure with which our little
orison was received. ' Ah,' they would say, ' we know
all about you ; you wrote a prayer for unity in the
book at the Synod.'
The business being now concluded the assembly
broke up, and we left the room in the same order and
with the same bowings with which we had entered it,
and went to call on the Turkish governor.
His office was situated at the other end of the outside
gallery, but he was absent at Salonica and his secretary
received us instead, very civilly and courteously. As
soon as we were seated he rang a bell. Coffee and
rahatlakoum made their appearance. We exchanged a
few compliments and took our departure.
We descended into the courtyard. I looked up
and saw all the members of the Holy Synod watching
us. After we had passed through the gateway and
had reached the street I ventured to look up again, and
saw that, like boys on a railway bridge, the reverend
fathers had run round to the opposite side, and two or
three windows were quite full of tall hats, the wearers
of which were gazing at the wonderful Franks with
the utmost curiosit)-.
VATOPEDI TOWN HOUSE 89
Before we left Caryes we visited the new town
house which the monks of Vatopedi were constructing.
It is a fine large building with a church attached, and
commands a beautiful view of the sea. After more
coffee we mounted our mules at three o'clock and rode
back in about three hours to Vatopedi. The return
journey was exceedingly pleasant ; it was much cooler
than it had been in the morning, and when we had
ridden halfway the sun set, so that it was almost dark
when we reached the noble convent, where a good meal
was awaiting us, to which we did ample justice.
9Q MOUNT ATHOS
CHAPTER VII.
The following day we spent in taking photographs,
amongst others one of a group of monks in front of
the refectory. Over their heads, suspended in the
archway, was a large wooden semantron {a-T][KavTpov).
This is nothing more than a board of sound and good
wood ; on being struck with a hammer it produces
a resonant noise, which can be heard a very long
distance. The semantron is used at Athos instead of
bells for calling to prayer, and was formerly universally
employed by the Eastern Christians, bells having been
first introduced in the year 865 by the Venetians, who
presented twelve to the emperor Michael III. There
are two sorts of wooden semantrons, the large fixed
ones and those carried in the hand.^ Before each
service one of the monks takes a hand semantron, and,
standing before the west end of the catholicon, strikes
on it three hard and distinct blows with the little
wooden mallet. He then proceeds round the outside
of the church, playing on the semantron by striking
blows of varying force on different parts of the wood
at uneven intervals, always winding up the * tune '
with three blows similar to those at the beginning.
Every night at twelve o'clock the semantron sounds
' See the engraving of the group before the phiale at the Lavra {facing
page 1 88) ; one of the monks is there represented in the act of striking
a hand semantron.
A MONASTIC BATHER 9 1
for the night offices, and although I am not a light
sleeper it constantly woke me up. • There is another
kind of semantron, made of iron, in the form of a half-
hoop. This is sometimes hung by chains in the
pronaos of the catholicon, but more often takes its
place amongst the bells in the tower, and of course
somewhat resembles them in sound.
The monk that waited upon us in our rooms, whose
name was Eutropius, was in great distress when he heard
we had taken a photograph without him, and made us
promise to take another the following day. Towards
sunset we went down to the bay for a bathe ; but the
Archbishop took O — off for a walk (much against his
will), and so I bathed alone. The sea is shallow for the
first twenty feet, gradually deepening so as to be out
of one's depth at that distance from the shore.
The cool waters of the ^gean were delightful after
the heat of the day, and I sat up to my neck in the
calm sea and enjoyed the view. The sun had just set
behind the hill, and»in the afterglow every angle and
corner of the towers and battlements of the lordly
monastery stood out clear and distinct. Casting my
eyes along the shore, I thought I saw a bundle of
clothes lying on the beach, and — yes, it positively was —
a monastic tall hat ! Presently I caught sight of the
owner's head bobbing about in the sea. I swam up
to it, and found an old monk blowing and puffing in
the water, trying to keep himself up with short, quick
strokes, and very red in the face he was by reason of
his exertions.
* Calemera sas ' (Good day to you), said I.
' Ora calee,' replied the monk.
Summoning up the whole of my remaining stock
92 MOUNT ATIIOS
of Romaic, I remarked, ' Polycala.' ' Polycala,' re-
turned the old gentleman. He was indeed a curious
object. He had on a pair of loose cotton drawers,
from the waistband of which was suspended his string
of beads, for not even in the water could he leave his
plaything behind him.^ His beard descended half-way
to his middle, and his long grey hair streamed behind
him on the top of the water. All my conversation
being exhausted, we parted company, and I swam
back to my clothes and dressed. Whilst I had been
bathing O — had been engaged in a conversation with
the Archbishop on preaching. The prelate maintained
that, whilst it was a great and difficult work, it was
especially needed in these days, on account of the
spread of materialism.
' Do the priests in your diocese preach ? ' inquired
O— .
* No,' replied the Archbishop ; * preaching is a great
work — work for a bishop.'
' Then, Monseigneur,' said O — , ' doubtless you
preach ? '
' No,* replied the Archbishop, ' no, not very often.
The fact is, I have not the time. Still, when I am in
my mdropole upon the great festivals whilst the Gospel
is being read Je pense, and afterwards I give the people
a short discourse.'
* On the Gospel for the day ? '
' No, not always ; I preach on any point of faith or
morals.'
The next day being Sunday, we got up very early
indeed (four o'clock) and went to the catholicon. The
' All Easterns, both Mohammedan and Christian, use beads as a
pastime as well as for their prayers.
GREEK MUSIC 93
monks had been in church since midnight, but they
seemed wonderfully fresh notwithstanding. We took
up our position in stalls next to the Archbishop, and for
three long hours we stood listening to the extraordinary
sounds that proceeded from the throats of the monks.
Byzantine music, which is still used in all Greek churches,
must be heard to be realized, and, as the clergy of the
Greek Church in London have adopted the modern
system, the majority of my readers must be content to
remain in ignorance of this ancient school. To an
European Oriental music is almost unbearable ; no note
seems to have any relation to its neighbours, for the
scales are totally different from our modern ones, and
the quarter tones — inadmissible in our system — grate
fearfully upon ears that are unaccustomed to them. If
he have the patience to resolutely go through a course
of the music he will get used by degrees to the odd
scales and intervals, and will begin to detect a tune
or melody in what seemed to him at the outset but a
jumble of discordant sounds. The Greek clergy in-
variably sing through the nose, and this adds to the
unpleasant effect the strange music produces.^
No instrumental music of any kind is permitted in
the Eastern Church, but sometimes a sort of voice
accompaniment of one note, like the drone of a bag-
pipe, keeps up a low murmuring sound whilst the other
voices are engaged upon the tune.
One old monk, who stood in a stall opposite to us,
had a wonderfully piercing voice and sang nearly the
whole time, gazing vacantly with a stupid fishy eye at
the face of the prompter.^ In the short intervals of
repose he would sink down in his stall and apparently
* See Appendix. ^ See page 55
94
MOUNT ATHOS
fall fast asleep, waking up again with wonderful pre-
cision when his turn came round. We were told that
when young he used to sing in his parish church, and
so rich and rare was his voice that people came from a
distance to hear him, and that frequently his hat was
filled with gold pieces by his wealthy admirers ! After
an office of psalmody the liturgy began, and lasted
about two hours. During the latter a monk came
round and censed us all singl}' with waves of the hand
GROUP OF MONKS AND PHIALE AT VATOPEDI.
censer. After church we bathed, holding white um-
brellas over our heads to protect our necks from the
burning sun — for it was very hot indeed this day — and
then enjoyed a long siesta. Afterwards we took a
photograph of the phiale with a group of monks in
front ; one of them a retired bishop, arrayed for the
occasion in a cope, with an episcopal staff in his hand.
The Eastern bishop's staff is formed at the top like a
crutch, the cross pieces being fashioned into the likeness
ONLY AN EARTHQUAKE 95
of serpents. What the signification of the serpents may
be I cannot discover ; various symboHsms were suggested
to me by the Athos monks, none being satisfactory.
As we were sitting in our room this afternoon,
talking to three or four ot our hosts, we were startled
at feeling a prolonged shudder pass through the tower
in which we were. On asking what it was, one of the
monks replied unconcernedly, ' Oh, it's only an earth-
quake. Occasionally some of our walls are shaken
down ; this is a small one, you see.'
Towards evening we went to the kiosk in the
garden with some of the monks, and asked them
questions about the monastery.
Tradition asserts that Vatopedi was founded by
Constantine the Great, destroyed by Julian the Apostate,
and restored by Theodosius the Great. The first two
statements are more than doubtful, but it is possible
that Theodosius may have founded the monastery ; so
I will give the story of the way in which the emperor
came to be connected with it.
Theodosius (who reigned from 379 to 395) had two
sons, Arcadius and Honorius. The former (then a
boy, but afterwards Emperor of the East) was on a
voyage from Rome to Constantinople, when the im-
perial trireme was caught in a terrific storm off Imbros.
Arcadius, wild with fright, was rushing about the deck
imploring the aid of the Theotocos, when, catching his
foot in some rope, be fell overboard and disappeared.
The next morning the trireme gained the bay of
Vatopedi, when the nobles to whose charge Arcadius
had been entrusted found the boy asleep under a
thorn bush on the shore, to their inexpressible astonish-
ment and delight. On awaking he told them that the
96 MOUNT ATHOS
Holy Virgin had rescued him from the water and
brought him safely to land.
On the return of the party to Constantinople the
Emperor Theodosius sent artificers to the Holy Moun-
tain to build a church in honour of God's Mother
where his son was found. Honorius and Placidia
joined him in the work, and gave, amongst other
things, the four porphyry pillars which support the
dome of the catholicon. So the church was finished,
the holy table being placed, it is said, on the site of
the bush, and Arcadius, now Emperor of the East,
came himself with the Patriarch Nectarius to the dedi-
cation of the building, and because
Evpov TO TraiSt iv Trj ^oltio ^
the monastery obtained its name of Vatopedi, ' The
Bush of the Child.'
In the year 862, according to the story,^ Vatopedi
was plundered by Arabs or Saracens, who stripped the
gold plate off the roof of the catholicon. This was
the occasion of the miracle of the icon and the lamp,
already related. After this invasion three rich and
nobleAdrianopolitans, Athanasius, Nicholas (Nicetas?),
and Antony, came to Athos with the object of found-
ing a monastery. St. Athanasius of Athos (of whom
more anon) succeeded in persuading them that they
had not sufficient means to found a new house, and
suggested that they should repair Vatopedi. This
they did, and living and dying there were buried in
the narthex of the catholicon. It is probable that
these three men were the real founders of the monas-
^ ' They found the child by the bramble bush.' Mr. Tozer suggests
another derivation, BuToneBiov, 'the plain of bramble bushes.'
^ Of John Comnenus. '
HISTORY OF VATOPEDI 97
tery, and that its previous history is as apocryphal as
its subsequent is genuine.
After them came the Servians Simeon and Sabbas,
who subsequently founded Chiliandari, and they built
six chapels. The Emperors Manuel Comnenus and
Andronicus Palseologus were benefactors of the monas-
tery, and the Emperor John Cantacuzenus put on the
monastic habit in 1355, and died a monk under the
name of Joseph.
Vatopedi is supposed by Leake ^ to occupy the
site of the ancient Charadrice, one of the six cities
mentioned by Herodotus '^ as existing on Acte. The
others were Acrothoon and Olophyxus (now, according
to Leake, represented by the Lavra and Chiliandari),
Dion, Tkyssus, and Cleoncs.
The number of monks at Vatopedi is 220. Be-
sides these there are 1 30 laymen ; these are servants
of all sorts — muleteers, blacksmiths, carpenters, &c.
Being an idiorrhythmic convent it is not governed
by an hegoumenos, or abbot, but, as I have stated
above, by three presidents called epitropoi. At the
time of our visit they were the following : First
epitropos, the prohegoumenos ^ Joseph ; the second,
the prohegoumenos Dionysius, who was also bursar
(rt/Atos) ; the third, the prohegoumenos Gregory. All
were well-informed, dignified men, who commanded
respect and seemed admirably fitted for their position
as rulers of the chief Greek house on Athos. The epi-
tropoi had two secretaries ; the name of the first was
Theophilus. Besides these officers there is the assembly
^ Travels in Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 149.
^ Polymnia, c. 22.
' The title of prohegoumenos is purely honorary in idiorrhythmic
monasteries.
H
98 MOUNT ATHOS
called the synaxis, composed of twenty or thirty old
men elected for life. This body really legislates for
the monastery, and the epitropoi carry its laws into
effect.
The Holy, Venerable, Royal, and Patriarchal
Monastery of Vatopedi (for this is its full title) pos-
sesses much land on the promontory, a small quantity
on some of the islands of the Archipelago, and broad
acres in Bessarabia, from which, however, the Russian
Government only allows the convent to draw two-fifths
of its revenue, for political reasons which will be dis-
cussed later on in this book. It had lands in Moldavia,
but these were confiscated by Roumania in 1865. The
yearly income of the Roumanian property was esti-
mated at 4,800/.^ Two sketes (dependent monasteries)
belong to Vatopedi, the Serai, or skete of St. Andrew, in-
habited by Russians, and the skete of St. Demetrius ;
the former is only nominally dependent. Besides the
sketes Vatopedi has twenty-three kellia (kcXXi), each
containing five or six monks, with its own little church
and land attached ; also two cathismata (/ca^tcr/xa), in-
habited by hermits. The difference between a kelli
and a cathisma is this : that in the former the inhabit-
ants provide their own food, but in the latter they live
on food furnished by their monastery.
Vatopedi possesses sixteen churches within the
walls {esocclesid) and twelve without (exocclesia). This
seems a great number, but it must be remembered
that the catholicon is the only large church, and that
the others, with the exception of two or three of fair
size, are little more than chapels ; yet each is a perfect
' I quote from the archimandrite Porphyry's account ; see the
Christian Remembrancer for 185 1.
VATOPEDI CHURCHES 99
little church, with bema, nave, and narthex. The
liturgy is always celebrated in the catholicon on Sundays
and great festivals, in the other churches on week days.
The following is the list of the esocclesia, or
churches within the walls :
1. The catholicon, dedicated to the Four Evangelists, containing
four paracclesia, or subordinate chapels — St. Nicholas, St. Deme-
trius, the Archangels, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.
2. The Holy Girdle (of St. Mary).
3. The Holy Unmercenaries ("Aytot ^Avdpyvpoi), SS. Cosmas and
Damian.'
4. The Holy Theodores.
5. The Transfiguration.
6. The Three Hierarchs : SS. Basil, Gregory, and Chrysostom.
7. St. Thomas the Apostle.
8. St. Chrysostom.
9. St. John the Evangelist.
10. The Twelve Apostles.
1 1. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.
12. St. Panteleemon (the hospital chapel).
13. St. George.
14. St. Andrew the Apostle.
15. The Honoured Foterunner (Ti/xtos UpoSpofws), St. John the
Baptist.
16. The Holy Trinity.
These are the exocclesia :
1. St. Modestus (stable chapel).
2. The Holy Apostles (cemetery).
3. St. Charalampes.
4. All Saints.
5. St. Tryphon.^
^ Two famous martyrs of the third century. Being physicians they
cured the sick without fees and so obtained the title of * Unmercenary '
or ' Silverless.'
^ St. Tryphon (martyred in A.D. 250) is the patron of gardens.
Didron says, ' Au mont Athos les chapelles qu'on voit s'dlever au milieu
d'une plantation de noisetiers ou d'oliviers, au centre d'un champ d'ex-
H 2
lOO MOUNT ATIIOS
6. The Holy Archangels.
7. St. Christopher.
8. St. Artemius.
9. St. Onouphrius.
10. The Prophet Elias.
11. The Five Martyrs. '
12. St. Nicholas.
ploitation, sont presque toutes dediees k saint Tryphon, qu'on reprd-
sente ordinairement une serpette k la main ' {Manuel d' Iconographie
Chretienne).
DEPARTURE FROM VATOPEDI lOI
CHAPTER VIII.
In every moment of our lives we should be trying to find out, not in
what we differ with other people, but in what we agree with them. —
RUSKIN.
Monday, Atigust ^. We had spent such a pleasant
time at Vatopedi that it was with regret we were
forced to leave our kind hosts to-day, being obliged
to press on, as we wished to visit all the monasteries
before leaving Athos.
We had coffee as usual in our room and then went
to the dining-room, where we were regaled with glyko
and more coffee, whilst our entertainers sat on the divan
with us, and we all giade pretty speeches. The epi-
tropoi presented each of us with an engraving of the
monastery and some carved wooden spoons and beads,
and so we chatted pleasantly till a servant brought the
intelligence that the mules were laden and were waiting
for us outside. The epitropoi and other chief monks
escorted us to the gate, and having said our last good-
byes we mounted our mules and rode off to Pantocra-
toros.
It took about two hours to reach this monastery
by a route which followed the road to Caryes for some
distance and then turned off at a height of about i, loo
feet. When we came in sight of Pantocratoros our
soldier fired three shots from his antiquated flint-lock
I02 MOUNT ATHOS '
musket, causing O — 's mule to skip about the path,
to the imminent danger of that reverend divine. The
monks fired a salute in return, and we rode up to the
portal in great state. Here we were received by the
epitropoi, who conducted us to the best room overlook-
ing the sea, where we sat down on the divan and had
glyko, coffee, and cigarettes. Dinner was prepared
meanwhile, and a poor meal it proved to be, everything
swimming in oil, so that we could not eat much. After
it we returned to the divan and extracted information
MONASTERY OF PANTOCRATOROS.
about the convent from the monks as we sat sipping
our coftee.
Tlie Monastery of Pantocratoros, or ' The Al-
mighty,' is, like most of the Athos convents, of doubt-
ful foundation. The epitropoi told us that it was
founded by John Comnenus, brother of the Emperor
Alexius Comnenus (10S1-1118). But Alexius had no
brother of the name of John, that I can discover,
although his father was John Comnenus, brother of
HISTORY OF PANTOCRATOROS TO3
Isaac Comnenus, the first of the Comnenian Emperors
of Constantinople. Another more probable account
attributes the foundation to Alexius Strategopulus, the
famous general of Michael Palseologus, who wrested
Constantinople from the Latins in the year 1261, put
to (light Baldwin II., the last of the Latin emperors,
and restored the Greek rule in the person of his
master.
The grateful emperor was not forgetful of his faith-
ful servant, and a triumph was decreed to Alexius,
such as had before been awarded to sovereigns alone.
Clothed in the dress of a Caesar, riding in a magnifi-
cent chariot, he was escorted through the entire city
amidst the acclamations of the liberated populace. On
his head was an emperor's crown, which he was given
permission to wear for the rest of his life, and, in addi-
tion to the wealth and honours which were showered
on him, his name was inscribed in all public docu-
ments after that of the emperor for the space of a whole
year.^ -*
But this brave soldier was a good man and pious,
his affections being set rather on things above than on
earthly pomps and vanities, and so, resolving to lay up
treasure in heaven, he devoted a portion of his riches
to the glory of God by founding this monastery of the
Almighty in the year 1263, two years after his brilliant
achievement, with the assistance of his brother, John
the Primicerius.
Being an idiorrhythmic convent, Pantocratoros is
governed by epitropoi instead of by an abbot : their
names were Theocritus and the archimandrite Atha-
* Lebeau, Histoire du Bas-Empire.
104 MOUNT ATHOS
nasius. There are now fifty monks and twenty ser-
vants belonging to it ; in the archimandrite Porphyry's
time there were only twenty monks ; so that their
numbers have increased by more than double during
the last forty years. The archbishop Georgirenes,
writing in 1678/ says that at that time It contained
300 brethren ; but he is a doubtful authority. Panto-
cratoros possesses three cathismata, eleven kellia, and
one skete, that of the Prophet Elias, of which I
shall have to give an account later on. The convent
also holds lands in Lemnos, Thasos, and Asia Minor.
Seven churches are situated within the walls and two
outside ; the list is as follows :
Esocclesia,
1. The catholicon, dedicated to the Transfiguration of our Lord,
containing one paracclesi, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary.
2. The Honoured Forerunner (St. John Baptist).
3. St. Panteleemon.
4. St. Nicholas.
5. St. George.
6. St. Andrew.
7. The Archangels.
Exocdesia.
1. St. Athanasius the Great.
2. St. Athanasius of Athos.
The catholicon is ancient and curious, though
small.^
' A Description of the Present State of Samos, Nicaria, Patmos, and
Mount Athos, by Joseph Georgirenes, Archbishop of Samos, now living
in London. Translated by one that knew the author in Constantinople.
London, 1678.
^ Measurements : length from west door to iconostasis, 31 feet ;
breadth of nave, 25^ feet, including transepts ^6 feet ; breadth of sanctuary,
PANTOCRATOROS CATHOLICON I05
The chapel of the prothesis and the diaconicon are
small chapels, surmounted by domes, and are situated
on either side of the apse of the bema. The diameter
of each is 6 feet 9 inches.
The catholicon possesses both an esonarthex and
an exonarthex, and has a paracclesi at the north-west
corner, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin. As usual, the interior walls of the church are
entirely covered with frescoes. Most of these have
been repainted, but the monks point out the following
as the unrestored work of Panselinus : ^ the faces of
the three large figures of Christ, the Virgin, and the
Baptist, over and on each side of the west doorway in
the esonarthex ; also the faces inside this doorway on
the west wall of the nave.
Thirdly, all the figures in the second row on the
east side of the north transept (Old Testament cha-
racters) are said to be untouched. The rest of the
frescoes were repainted in a creditable manner, on
the old lines, fifty years ago. The exceptions of the
monks seemed to me to be rather doubtful.
On one of the four pillars of white marble which
support the dome is a miraculous icon which was
formerly in the oil stores and caused the oil to
increase during a dearth. It has been repainted,
and the silver work is modern Russian. We after-
■wards saw the jar connected with this miracle in the
oil cellar.
The monastery is situated on a rocky cliff, and has
its little port immediately below it. Probably the
or bema, 25^ feet ; length from iconostasis to end of sanctuary apse, 16 J
feet.
' See below in the description of the Protaton at Caryes. *
io6
MOUNT ATHOS
walls were once battlemented, but now rooms have
been built on them, overhanging in the way already-
described at Vatopedi. There is a tower on the land
side, which contains the library. The books are well
kept, but there is no catalogue. Here it was that
Curzon in 1837 found that terrible wreck which he
calls * indeed a heart-rending sight.' The tower had
fallen into ruin, and the roof and floors having given
way, the greater part of the library was rotting on the
ground amongst the rubbish. It is a comfort to think
ANCIENT BOOK AT TANTOCRATOROS.
that now at least the remainder, consisting of 234
MSS. (sixty-six on vellum), are safely stowed away
under a water-tight roof. We noticed particularly a
curious chronology of the world, about six inches wide
and twenty-six feet eight inches in length ; it is kept
rolled round a stick. The finest book at Pantocratoros
is kept in the catholicon. It is said to be in the
handwriting of a certain St. John of Kalavita, a fifth-
century hermit ; but Curzon considered it to be the
ANCIENT BINDING SUPPER IO7
work of the eleventh or twelfth century. He describes
it in these words : ' It is written in a very minute hand,
and contains the Gospels, some prayers, and lives of
saints, and is ornamented with some small illumina-
tions. The binding is very curious ; it is entirely of
silver gilt and is of great antiquity. The back part
is composed of an intricate kind of chainwork, which
bends when the book is opened.' The Crucifixion is
represented on one cover and the Annunciation on the
other. The lettering points to a Slavonic origin. We
had this book brought out into the courtyard, and there
photographed the binding successfully. This had evi-
dently been done before, as faded photographs of the
binding and of the writing were pasted inside the
cover.
The court in which the catholicon stands is pic-
turesque. In the spandrels of the arches, which form
a sort of cloister, pieces of pottery and plates are let
into the brickwork ; this is not unusual at Athos, but I
note it here because it was the first time we observed
this form of ornament. Opposite the west door of the
catholicon is a plate which looks extremely like a piece
of Moorish lustre- ware.
Our supper in the evening was so bad that we were
obliged to draw upon our slender stores and make our
meal off the preserved soup, tinned tunny, and Dutch
cheese which we had brought from Constantinople.
We were a little afraid of offending our kind hosts by
thus casting aspersions upon their entertainment; so
Angelos was told to explain to them what curious tastes
Franks have, and how they never touch oil {rancid) in
their own country. This he did quite to their satisfac-
tion. After supper we had a long conversation with
108 MOUNT ATHOS
the epitropoi and the Archbishop about the unity of
Christendom and the English Church. An intelligent
young Greek, a visitor to Athos, took part in the dis-
cussion. He was a sub-editor of the Patriarchal organ
the *EKK\r)cria€rTLKr} 'AXrjOeia, to which he was
anxious we should subscribe, in order to correct any
misstatements which might appear in it concerning the
English Church ; this is, however, already done by
Canon Curtis, the chaplain of the Crimean Memorial
Church at Constantinople, whose long residence in the
East has given him a considerable acquaintance with
the Eastern modes of thought. A certain Dr. X.,
formerly a Roman priest, then a Lutheran, and now,
for the present at any rate, a member of the Orthodox
Eastern Church, resides in London, and is looked upon
as an oracle by the readers of the 'AkijOeLa ; this person
constantly contributes articles on Anglicanism to the
periodical. Canon Curtis assured us that his contri-
butions are generally full of misrepresentations, and
betray a bitter hatred of our communion. The Canon
is constantly writing to the 'AXijOeia to correct and
protest, but for the fair play of the editors I am sorry
to say that his letters do not always gain admission to
its columns.
To return to our conversation, which next turned
upon the Filioque: This mighty question, the cause
of the Great Schism, is hardly a subject for discussion
by individuals, and I can never see much use in thus
treating it. When, in God's mercy, the time comes for
the Churches to demand mutual explanations with a
view to Catholic unity, everything points to the belief
that there will not be much difficulty in satisfying
the Easterns of our orthodoxy whilst recognising the
A THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION — BAPTISM IO9
Validity of their objection to the insertion of the
clause in the Creed. Between Easterns and Romans
the case is different; the Oriental fear and hatred of
the Papal pretensions and aggression are far weightier
considerations than any question of orthodoxy. The
Easterns, resolved to join battle upon these issues,
seem to have chosen the doctrine of the Procession
of the Holy Spirit as an impregnable position fof
the fight.
We afterwards translated some of the Prayer Book
to our audience, and fault was found with our form of
private absolution. ' I absolve thee,' said the Arch-
bishop, * is too strong ; it shows a Latin influence. The
absolution in your liturgy is in better form and more
in keeping with antiquity.' We asked the Archbishop
what he thought of Western baptism, and he replied
that the Eastern Church refuses to recognise a baptism
as valid unless it be performed with three complete im-
mersions. * Therefore,' said he, * when a Roman priest
comes over to us we* rebaptize him, because we do not
allow baptism by aspersion, nor, except in cases of
sickness, by affusion ; and we reordain him, because
an unbaptized person cannot be validly ordained.
' According to our doctrine,' continued the Arch-
bishop, ' the Pope of Rome himself is neither more nor
less than an unbaptized layman, and if he joined our
communion would have to be baptized. Still, suppos-
ing the whole Latin Church and its patriarch were to
submit to us in a body, then the Church by an exercise
of the economy of the Church would recognise Western
baptisms and ordinations, and they would become valid
by the mere act of recognition.'
We ventured to suggest that the question was a
no MOUNT ATHOS
simple one : either Western baptisms and ordinations
are valid or they are not valid, and if they be not valid
no amount of recognition by the Church can make
them valid. This * economy ' has already been exer-
cised by the Russian Church, which is part of the
Eastern Church, in full communion with the Patriarch
of Constantinople, and in this way : Numerous converts
being made amongst the Lutheran Finns and I^atin
Poles, and it being extremely inconvenient, not to say
repelling, to have to rebaptize them, the Russian Church
takes them as if they were baptized, and then, having
confirmed them, admits them to the Eucharist and the
other sacraments. Thus if I, as a Western, wished to
join the Holy Eastern Church and went to Constanti-
nople or Athens and craved admittance to her com-
munion, I should be told, * You must first be rebaptized,
or rather baptized, for you have never received that
indispensable sacrament' If I rejected this injunction
and travelled north to St. Petersburg I should be told
that the Church received me as if I were baptized ;
that this was quite sufficient ; and I should be at once
admitted, after recanting my heresies, if I held any, to
the sacraments of the Holy Eastern Church. If I then
returned to Constantinople or Athens I should be
received into communion ; for as a member of the
Russian Church I should be necessarily in full commu-
nion with the rest of the Orthodox Church. May not
* economy " be merely a grand name for * expediency ' ?
Speaking broadly, the Easterns look upon Western
baptisms in the following way, though there are diver-
sities of opinion amongst them : It is not baptism {Bdir-
Tta/xa), because the person is not dipped {BairTiCci)) ;
but it is the laver of regeneration (i.e. what the
A THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION CLERICAL MARRIAGES I I I
Westerns do is sufficient to regenerate the person) ;
therefore it is a sacrament although it is not the sacra-
ment of baptism. This explanation was given me
by one of the (Ecumenical Patriarch's deacons, who
became an intimate acquaintance of mine a few years
ago, when he was in Oxford, studying Anglican theo-
logy. It does not seem to mean much more than
that our baptism is the sacrament irregularly per-
formed.
Although we did not on this occasion discuss the
question of the marriage of the clergy, I have frequently
done so at other times. Perhaps it is not generally
known that our custom of permitting the clergy to
marry after ordination is one of the greatest obstacles
to union with the Easterns. It is true that they have
never enforced the celibacy of the clergy, as the Roman
Church, but they have retained that discipline, which
seems to have been universal from the earliest ag-es
of Christianity, that candidates for holy orders, if they
chose the married state, should wed before their ordi-
nation. The question of clerical celibacy was raised
at the Council of Nicaea in 325, and the proposal to
enforce it rejected, the old discipline above mentioned
being deemed sufficient. As far as I know, every
Church in the world. Eastern or Western, Catholic or
schismatical, with the exception of the Anglican, the
decayed and feeble remnant of the Assyrian or Nes-
torian Church, and the Protestant sects, retains the
primitive discipline of forbidding clerical marriages ;
and although the mediaeval abuses probably required a
strong remedy, this departure from the practice of anti-
quity is hard to defend. A foolish and useless restric-
tion, it may be said. In good truth this age is not
I 1 2 MOUNT ATHOS f,
favourable to high ideals ; and yet the sight of a priest's
courtship will sometimes cause even the most thought-
less of us to wince a little. The Archbishop remarked
that it would materially assist the cause of unity if
representatives could be exchanged between Lambeth
and Phanar,^ even if this were done solely for the pur-
pose of mutual study of the doctrines, practices, and
thouQfhts of the two communions.
We spoke of liberalism and infidelity, and the
havoc they are making in Western Christendom,
pointing out that movements which begin in the West
generally advance eastwards, that the Orientals must,
expect soon to feel their power, and how an united
Christendom could easily withstand an onslaught to
which divided Churches might succumb. Wishing to
illustrate our meaning in Eastern fashion, I bethought
me of the old parable of the strength of the sticks^
singly weak, when united in one bundle, and brought
out our parcel of sticks and umbrellas for the purpose.
Our friends greatly appreciated this argumentum ad
daculos, and I was concluding my parable satisfac-
torily when an unforeseen disaster occurred. In the
heat of discussion I had not perceived the entrance of
a monk with our coffee, whose slippered feet tread-
ing the soft matting produced no sounds save of the
faintest, Turning hastily round to replace my instru-
ments of allegory in a corner, I encountered the coffee
tray with considerable force. Over went tray, cups,
and coffee, and the poor monk stood speechless amidst
the wreck, whilst I, the unfortunate cause of the mis-
chief, began to stammer out my apologies. But the
* Phanar is the quarter of Constantinople which was assigned to the
Patriarch for his residence after the capture of the city by the Mussulmans.
SPILT COFFEE II3
Archbishop and the epitropoi hailed the catastrophe
with dehght. ' Polycala ! ' said they, * polycala ! God
has sent an omen ! Spilt coffee is the luckiest thing in
the world. God will give us unity ! ' And the poor
monk joined in the cry, and trotted off for more
coffee, whilst the company with beaming countenances
made room for me on the divan.
I 14 MOUNT ATHOS
CHAPTER IX.
The next day we got up at seven o'clock and took a
photograph of the monastery. Cofifee was brought
and we wrote our names in the visitors' book, the
Archbishop adding his wonderful signature with a long
sentence in Greek, setting forth how the night before
we had had a discussion on the Anglican and Eastern
Churches and the necessity for reunion, for which he
earnestly prayed. Then we took mules to the skete
of the Prophet Elias, the Russian dependency of Pan-
tocratoros. The skete is situated about half an hour's
ride up the valley, which runs down from the central
ridge to the rocky shore on which Pantocratoros stands,
and is at a considerable elevation (400 feet) above the
monastery. The buildings are all modern, the house
having been founded by a monk called Paisius in the
year 1753. Paisius was a Russian who first came to
Athos in 1 746. Cypresses grow round the skete in great
plenty, and on an open space near it stands a windmill.
We were received with the clanging of all the bells
and semantra in the place. The Archbishop put his veil
{€'iTa.v(iiKakv}iav)(iov) over his tall black hat {KaXvixav^iov).
We all dismounted and were received by the monks in
the gateway. Arraying the Archbishop in a cope of
purple silk, they accompanied us to the catholicon, two
monks with lighted candles walking in front of him
SKETE OF PROPHET ELIAS II5
and Peter behind holding up the train of his cope.
In the church we had a short service, lasting perhaps
five minutes, the Archbishop standing in a throne and we
in stalls. A priest within the bema and a deacon out-
side the holy doors conducted the prayers, the latter
repeating a litany containing, amongst other things, a
petition for 'the most beloved of God Philotheos.'
When the deacon repeated the Archbishop's name he
turned and bowed to him, and the monks said, ' Kyrie
eleison, Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison,' after each suf-
frage. Then the Archbishop said a short prayer from
the throne, afterwards descending into the centre of
the church, where, raising his hand with his fingers in
the Eastern position of blessing, he slowly turned round
as on a pivot. The solemnity of this part of the pro-
ceedings was somewhat marred by Peter, who, in the
act of running round his master with the tail of the
cope in his hands, tripped over the folds and very
nearly measured his length on the floor.
The service ended, .we were conducted to the re-
ception room, which was furnished with chairs as well
as a divan and adorned with bright-coloured Russian
prints on the walls. Instead of coffee, tea was brought
to us, for wherever Russians are ' tchai ' is to be found ;
and I may add that the Russian word for it is used not
only in the Levant but throughout the East. Very
good this tea was, and very acceptable after the endless
little cups of thick Turkish coffee ; not that this coffee
is to be despised, but when you have it at least five
times a day it begins to pall upon the taste. All sketes
are coenobite, and so ruled by an abbot, or, to speak
more correctly, by a prior, or dicaios (St/cajo?), as he is
called. The dicaios of St. Elias and another monk
I 2
Il6 MOUNT ATHOS
entertained us over our tea. The latter was a parti-
cularly well-informed man, by name Anthony, and
seemed to be the right hand of the dicaios. We
chatted pleasantly about unity and the usual topics,
and also paid many compliments to Russia and the
Russians, which pleased our hosts exceedingly. By-
and-by they brought us their visitors' book, in which
we inscribed our names, and added that we were glad
to be able to avail ourselves of that hospitality which
we had always experienced from Russians ; and this
may have been the cause of our having an excellent
dinner, the best we had yet sat down to at Athos.
During this repast we talked to the monks about
their native country, and told them how we had seen
the new Church of the Saviour at Moscow the year
before, and how magnificent it was ; all of which in-
terested our friends greatly. They had a little ship,
the return of which from Russia they were daily ex-
pecting. It was to bring them caviar, tea, and many
other luxuries. After dinner we were shown into a
clean-looking room with iron bedsteads, and, as the day
was very hot and we knew the Archbishop would refuse
to move on until after his nap, we lay down on the
inviting beds for a siesta. Not very long did I remain
in that position. Before five minutes had elapsed, I
sprang up and caught in a twinkling six bugs, that had
just sat down to dinner. O — was more fortunate ; he
was unmolested, but the possibility of a like fate soon
compelled him to follow my example and banish all
thoughts of sleep. At three o'clock we went to
vespers and enjoyed the ' tetraphone,' or part music,
of the Russian Church. Outside the church were
several monks listening to the service ajt the open
DEPARTURE FROM ST. ELIAS llj
transept windows, each bending over a sort of crutch,
resting his breast on its broad arms. These crutches
are universally used by those who attend Divine
service in the open air and ieel the need of some
support.
There is nothing of interest in the catholicon,
which is dedicated to the prophet Elias. There are
two other esocclesia, dedicated respectively to St.
Metrophanes and the Annunciation. The two exoc-
clesia are dedicated to the two Archangels and St.
Nicholas. The name of the dicaios was Tobias. We
left the skete with the same musical honours with
which we had been received, but the ceremonies were
rather disconcerted by our discovery at the last mo-
ment that my white umbrella was missing (I thought
I had lent it to the Archbishop, but he denied the
charge) and having to send monks scampering all
over the place to find it. However, the bell ringers
and semantron players stuck manfully to their work,
and after five minute^ of prolonged leave-taking, the
missing article being found, either in the garden, whither
we had gone to take a photograph, or in one of the
chapels, we mounted our mules and rode off to Stav-
roniketa.
This monastery is on the sea, a little to the south
of Pantocratoros. Our muleteers took a short cut,
which, like most short cuts, did not answer ; for after
they had conducted us along the face of the cliff by a
steep path we suddenly found a wall barring farther
progress. A careful search revealed no gate, so there
was nothing for it but to retrace our steps. With
considerable difficulty we turned our mules' heads, the
path being very narrow, climbed to the top of the
ii8
MOUNT ATHOS
cliff again, and descended to the monastery by another
road. Thus it took us nearly two hours and a half
to reach our destination. Stavroniketa, or the Monas-
tery of the Conquering Cross, is situated, like Panto-
cratoros, on a rock overhanging the sea. It is a
picturesque building with a tall tower on the land
side, the top of which is both battlemented and
machicolated, like a Gothic keep. It was either
founded or restored by Jeremias I. in 1540 or 1541
VIEW OF A PORTION OF THE EASTERN SHORE OF THE PROMONTORY,
WITH STAVRONIKETA IN THE FOREGROUND AND MOUNT ATHOS IN
THE DISTANCE.
(Jeremias occupied the Patriarchal throne of Constan-
tinople from £520 to 1543) — probably restored, both
from the appearance of the catholicon and the tradition
of the monks ; for they assert that the founder was
Nicephoros Stavroniketos, an officer of the Emperor
John Zimiskes^ (969-976); that it was destroyed by
* I have adopted the most usual spelling for the Emperor's name
Zimiskes is an Armenian word, and is occasionally written, as Finlay
remarks, ' in a frightful manner ' — Tzimiskes, Chimishkik, and Chumuskik.
His native place rejoiced in the name of Chumushkazak or Tchemesch-
gedzeg.
STAVRONIKETA I I 9
African pirates, rebuilt by Jeremias, and that its name
is derived from its founder. They say also that the
present buildings and the catholicon date from the
restoration, but I think the latter must be older than
the sixteenth century, and Curzon seems to have been
of the same opinion. There were six esocclesia, but
two have been lately destroyed by fire and are not yet
rebuilt. They are as follows :
1. The catholicon, dedicated to St. Nicholas.
2. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.
3. The Honoured Forerunner.
4. St. Eleutherius.
5. St. George i
6. The Holy Apostles } ^' P^^^^"^ ^"'""^
There is one exocclesi, St. Demetrius, attached to
the cemetery. The monastery possesses six kellia,
one cathisma, and twenty-two calyvia. A calyvi is
like a small kelli, but has no chapel attached to it.
The inhabitant of a calyvi is a hermit who pays annually
to the monastery hajf a Turkish lira (equal to nine
shillings) for the house and a small plot of ground. By
the cultivation of this ground and by begging at the
monasteries he supports himself. I have already men-
tioned the large number of hermits that are fed every
day at the great houses of Vatopedi and Iveron.
The chief epitropos, by name Averkius, quite
startled us. He had a very red face and a voice like
a crow ; he talked prodigiously, in the loudest tones,
and ended each sentence with a hoarse laugh. We
were positively deafened by the terrific noise he made.
The other epitropos, called Gregentius, and another
monk sat meekly on the divan, not speaking a word ;
the noisy fellow had it all his own way. He told us
120 MOUNT ATHOS
about the spoliation of the monastic lands in Vallachia,
and how Stavroniketa had suffered with the rest. * But
we have enough,' said he, amidst shouts of apparently-
meaningless laughter ; ' we cultivate our lands on Athos
the better. God gave and God has taken away, and
we must be content.' Then he related how a short
time ago nearly the whole monastery had been burnt
down, and at this point his mirth became utterly un-
controllable ; peals of laughter followed one upon
another until the tears trickled down his cheeks, and
we began to try how long we could keep the joke up
by putting in a little chuckle of our own occasionally,
being forced at last to desist from very pity ! The
Archbishop looked very much annoyed, and hardly
spoke at all. We thought he was angry at such an
unseemly exhibition taking place before us, and I
think he suspected, as we did, that the epitropos had
been looking too much upon the red wine. However,
we afterwards heard that his laughter was a form of
nervousness, and this was proved by the fact that when
we had been in his company for an hour or two, and
his shyness had begun to wear off, the bursts of
laughter became fewer and less uproarious ; but still
to the very last he was, to say the least, exceedingly
merry.
O — at length grew tired of our noisy host, and
commenced a voyage of discovery in the neighbour-
hood of the supper table, which was spread in an
anteroom outside the place where we were sitting.
Presently he returned and beckoned to me to follow.
I did so, and found myself in an extremely ill-smelling
apartment.
' My dear O — ,' said I, ' where does the abominable
A DREADFUL SUPPER 121
odour come from ? There must be a drain under-
neath the window.'
O — made no reply, but, pointing to a bowl full of
a reddish liquid which was gradually cooling on the
table, he said simply, ' Smell it.' I applied my nose
to the bowl and took one sniff.
* Good heavens ! ' said I ; ' what on earth can it
be .? '
* Our soup,' replied O — very gravely.
' No, no,' I exclaimed in desperation ; * impossible.
No one could swallow that'
* Yes,' said O — , ' that's our soup, and that is the
reason of the smell you perceived just now.'
At that moment in trooped the Archbishop, the
epitropoi, and Angelos, and we had to sit down to
supper. What a meal that was ! Never in the whole
course of my travels have I experienced anything to
equal it. The smell of the soup was so bad that I
really thought several times I should have to beat
a hasty retreat. ^^^ bowl was placed before the
Archbishop (O — and I were sitting on each side of
him), and he began to ladle out the stuff on to plates.
It was composed of three parts hot water and one part
/lot rancid oil, in which delicious compound lobster and
octopus had been digested. It needs not to be said
that we neither of us ventured upon a trial of it. We
observed that the Archbishop only drank half of his
portion.
' Come,' said O — to me in English across the
table, ' it must be bad if the Archbishop can't
manage it.'
We munched our dry bread (ugh ! wasn't it gritty !)
and waited patiently. Second course : octopus boiled
122 MOUNT ATHOS
in the same oil. Again we refused, much to the dis-
tress of the merry epitropos ; but the utter hopelessness
of the task of eating the dish lent firmness to our
refusal. Again the Archbishop took a helping, but
after the first few mouthfuls I saw him beginning to
play with the red tentacles, which were swimming in
the brown oil, and trying to drain off a little of the
latter from the fish. We remarked in French, ' You
don't seem to have much of an appetite, Monseigneur,
after our ride ; ' but the Archbishop with true Oriental
politeness only answered by a smile. We ate a little
of our Dutch cheese, for we dared not draw further
on our slender stores, and so went practically supper-
less to bed, and after a hard day's work too. O —
would contradict me flatly, I know, if I said that he
was as cross as two sticks that evening and left me
to do all the talking, but it would be quite true never-
theless.
The monks spread sheets on the divan for our use
that were too filthy for us to think of using. How long
it was since they had been washed, and how many
sleepers they had inclosed since that operation, and of
what kind, we shuddered to think ; so, piling them
up in a corner, we brought out for the first time
our ' levinges,' or sleeping-bags, and indeed we were
rarely able to dispense with them afterwards.
A levinge is made of two bags, one of light calico,
the other of muslin, each about six or seven feet in
length. The open ends of the bags are sewn together,
so as to make one continuous sack, the only entrance
being through a neck projecting from the side of the
calico bag, which can be securely closed by a running
tape ; the whole contrivance, when folded for packing,
LEVINGE 123
being about the same weight and size as an ordinary-
night shirt.
Having spread the caHco portion of the bag (which
represents the sheets) on the divan, you tie up the
muslin part to a nail or some other convenient fasten-
ing on the wall above your head, the muslin having
been already distended by a cane hoop (made in three
pieces for portability), so as to form a canopy over the
pillow at right angles to the calico bag. Then you
spread a rug, if it be cold, over the calico, and enter
the bag by the neck, already described. Once inside,
the strings attached to the entrance are tightened,
wound round the end of the neck, and tied ; and there
you are, snug and comfortable, and can watch with
the greatest pleasure your baffled enemies, who, in
their futile attempts to force an entrance, run up and
down the outside of the muslin and end by ensconcing
themselves, as daylight breaks, in the folds at the top
of the canopy, where you have the supreme delight of
catching and slaughj;ering them the next morning.
But I am anticipating our bed time. We talked a
little to the noisy epitropos, and asked him questions
concerning the state of the monastery. There are now
forty-five monks, who observe the idiorrhythmic rule.
If Archbishop Georgirenes' statement be correct, they
have increased since his time by fifteen. There are
also fifteen servants.
Soon the epitropoi went to bed, and, the Archbishop
and O — being engaged in conversation, I went into
the open air to enjoy the fresh breezes of the night.
The moon was nearly at the full and her rays were
streaming down into the courtyard, so that the catholi-
con and the surrounding buildings with their domes and
124 MOUNT ATHOS
roofs were bathed in the silvery Hght. The monastery
was as still as possible, all the monks having retired to
rest in preparation for the great night service. I stood
a long while watching the moonlight, so long that I
became too absorbed to notice that the Archbishop had
joined me on the balcony. Suddenly a slight noise
startled me, and turning round I found him by my
side. * My Lord,' said I, * we say in England that
the moon is the type of the Panaghia; she is very
glorious, and yet but shines with a reflected light.'
Probably the Archbishop did not comprehend the
astronomy of the remark, but he appreciated its theo-
logy, for he replied, ' That is an orthodox statement ;
and yet do not all Christians love God's Mother ? ' and
I said, ' There are strange things now in Christendom,
my Lord.'
ST. NICHOLAS 12
CHAPTER X.
The catholicon of Stavronlketa is very small.^ It
is dedicated, as has been already said, to St. Nicholas
the Wonderworker. This is the famous father of
Nicaea, who in his indignation dealt the heretic Arius
in the midst of the council that box on the ear for
which he was punished with a temporary suspension
a sacris by the assembled bishops, who admired his
zeal for the truth although they could not overlook
his breach of decorum.^ No saint has ever been so
widely popular as St. Nicholas. Not only in the East
is his name held in the greatest veneration, but in
every country in Europe churches have been built in
his honour. He is regarded as the special patron of
sailors, and a modern Greek proverb runs as follows :
Kat CIS T^v OaXaxTfTdv ^Qfrfiu,
Kal CIS Tf\v yrjv 6avfjuiT0vpyeL.^
This is how he acquired his reputation, as Adam of
St. Victor tells us in one of his beautiful sequences :
^ Size of the catholicon : from iconostasis to east end of apse, 9 feet ;
from iconostasis to west door of nave, 24A feet ; extreme breadth of
church, 2 1 feet ; length of narthex, 24 feet.
^ Stanley's Eastern Church.
3 He both assists us on the sea,
And on the land works wondrously.
126 MOUNT ATHOS
Quidam nautae navigantes,
Et contra fluctuum saevitiam luctantes,
Nave pene dissoluta,
Jam de vita desperantes,
In tan to positi periculo, clamantes
Voces dicunt omnes una :
' O beate Nicholae,
Nos ad maris portum trahe
De mortis angustia.
Trahe nos ad portum maris,
Tu qui tot auxiliaris
Pietatis gratia.'
Dum clamarent, nee incassum,
* Ecce ! ' quidam dicit, ' assum
Ad vestra praesidia.'
Statim aura datur grata
Et tempestas fit sedata :
Quieverunt maria.^
In the cathollcon is preserved a miraculous picture
of the saint, with the following history attached to it :
^ I append Mr. Wrangham's translation :
' Certain sailors once, when sailing,
And fighting 'gainst fierce waves with struggles unavailing.
Shipwrecked nigh through stress of weather,
Hope of life already failing
Amid such dangers set, aloud their fate bewailing,
Lift their voices all together :
' " Blessed Nicholas, oh, steer us
From the straits of death so near us
To the haven of the sea !
To that harbour in the distance
Draw us, who dost grant assistance.
Through the grace of charity ! "
' Lo ! while thus they cried, nor vainly,
" I am here," a voice said plainly,
" To watch o'er you and to aid ! "
Instantly blow favouring breezes,
Instantly the tempest ceases.
And to rest the sea is laid.'
STAVRONIKETA RELICS 127
At the time of the iconoclastic heresy this icon was
struck and otherwise insulted by a heretic, and then
thrown into the sea. A fisherman brought it up
in his net, and found an oyster sticking to the face of
the picture where it had been struck. This is all the
information I could get from the monks. On asking
when the fisherman found the picture, I received the
usual answer, ' Who knows ? A very long time ago.'
Questions as to how it came to Stavroniketa and what
the oyster had to do with the story, or with the sanc-
tity of the picture, shared the same fate. I cannot do
more, therefore, than describe the icon. The face is
of mosaic, the setting silver gilt of ancient workman-
ship, but probably more modern than the mosaic.
The oyster shell is carved and preserved separately in
the church. After we had seen the picture of St.
Nicholas one of the monks in priest's orders put on a
stole, and certain candles having been lighted the
relics were brought out for our veneration. They
were the left hand of St. Anne ; a few teeth of the
Prodromos ; a lump of earth and bones, being the
relics of the 20,000 martyrs of Nicomedia ; a piece of
the shoulder of St. Basil, and some myron (fivpov)
of St. Nicholas. Myron ^ is an odoriferous unguent
which exudes from the relics of certain saints, who are
called from this circumstance /ot vpoySXvr at, myroblytes.
As the monastery was very poor at the time of our visit,
^ 'VovTo TO fivpov balfiovas erv/xjrw'yfi, poaovs (f)vya8fvfi. (Nathaniel
Chumnus.) And possibly Sir John Maundeville is alluding to this tnyron
in the following passage (where he is speaking of the relics of St. Catherine
on Mount Sinai) : ' The prelate of the Monkes schewethe the Relykes
to the Pilgrymes. And with an Instrument of Sylver, he frotethe the
Bones : and thanne ther gothe out a lytylle Gyle, as thoughe it were a
maner swetynge, that is nouther lyche to Gyle ne to Bawme ; but it is
fuUe swete of smelle.
128 MOUNT ATHOS
on account of the expense of rebuilding the burnt-out
portion, we ventured to make a small offering to the
church, this being the only instance during the whole of
our visit where we felt we could properly do so, though
we used to give presents to the muleteers and occa-
sionally to the monk that waited on us, when we heard
that he was a poor man to whom a little gift would be
acceptable.
After the relics had been put away, we asked to
see the library. It had been burnt, but the books
saved, and these were lying in heaps on the floor of a
dark room, in such confusion that it was impossible for
us to pick out anything of interest. It is not impro-
bable that some have been lost or seriously damaged
by * fire, water, and removal.' Anyhow it is to be
hoped that they will soon be rearranged in a new
library. Curzon found here 800 MSS,, of which 200
were on vellum, the best books being a MS. of the
' Scala Perfectionis ' in Greek of the tenth or eleventh
century, a paper MS. of the Acts and Epistles, both
of which had fine illuminations, and eight large folios
containing the entire works of St. Chrysostom.^
We had breakfast the next morning at eleven, and
fared no better than the night before. The kind-hearted
monks had done their best by providing special soup
for us po(rixTr'q<liO(f)dyoL kol fX7r\oixTTOVTuyyo(f)oiyoL''Ayy\oL,^
and a cock to follow. The soup was the liquor in which
the cock had been boiled, but they had put rancid
' I am informed by Professor Spyridion Lambros, of Athens, that when
he visited the Ubrary three or four years back there were only 169 MSS.,
fifty-seven being on vellum, some finely illuminated.
■■* ' Roast-beef-eating and plum-piidding-eating Englishmen,' as the
Greek newspapers of Constantinople are in the habit of informing their
readers at Christmas time, in special articles on our national idiosyn-
crasies.
THE STAVRONIKETA COCK I29
•butter into it, and we found it quite uneatable. ' Never
,mind,' said the epitropos, 'there is a cock to follow;
you will like him.' The gallant fowl soon appeared,
•with his legs and wings sticking out in the most ridicu-
lous way, for the monks of Mount Athos do not take
the trouble of trussing fowls for table. He had been
boiled in the soup and looked very blue and sodden.
By this time, however, our appetites had been sharpened
by abstinence, so that we were not going to be put off
by the look of the victuals. O — was helped first.
'There,' said the Archbishop, as he tore the poor bird
into fragments, * there is a nice wing for you.' ' Yes,'
added the noisy epitropos, with one of his paroxysms
of mirth, ' don't mind us ; eat it all yourselves.' O —
took a large mouthful (I had waited, as usual, to see
what he thought of the bird, for I strongly object to
shocks on the palate ; if a thing is nasty I like to be
prepared for it) and we all watched him. The instant
he tasted the morsel I saw that something was the
matter. The tears c^me into his eyes in the agony of
the moment as he strove to swallow it. At last he
succeeded and gasped out, ' I'm nearly poisoned. What
can they have done to it ? ' We discovered that the
cock had been dressed with almost putrid butter. Of
course we were obliged to send it away, though I am
afraid we hurt the epitropos' feelings. We were very
sorry, especially as the cock — imported, of course, and
therefore valuable ^ — was quite useless to everyone else
in the monastery, it being the beginning of the fort-
night's fast before August 15. Still there was no help for
it, and we could only direct Angelos to make the best
^ It will be remembered that no female animals are allowed on the
promontory.
K
I30 MOUNT ATHOS
apologies to the monks and tell them — what I am afraid
was not strictly true — that we were not at all hungry,
and were doing admirably on bread, fruit, and nuts.
We strove to divert attention from our daintiness
by starting a discussion upon the Roman Church — a
genial topic which soon found plenty of employment
for the monastic tongues.
* Of course,' said the epitropos, when the first burst
of anti-Papal fervour had subsided, ' of course it is a
well-known fact that all Roman priests are immoral.'
* No,' I replied ; ' that is not true. You have never
been in Roman Catholic countries, whilst this English
priest and I have seen much of the Roman clergy, and
we know that there are as good men amongst them as
anywhere in Christendom.'
* Well, the greater number are immoral,' urged the
epitropos.
' Few of them,' said I.
* A great many,' said the epitropos.
* Very few,' said I.
' Yes,' interposed the Archbishop, ' this Frank
gentleman is right. All Catohc^ priests are not im-
moral. Besides, he has visited the Pope's countries,
and ought to know better than you.'
We left Stavroniketa at two o'clock in the after-
noon of Wednesday, August '^ , and arrived an hour
later at Iveron, or the Holy Patriarchal and Royal
Monastery of the Iberians. This convent is close to
the sea, very little above its level, at the mouth of a
pretty glen, which widens into a small valley where the
' The peculiar pronunciation by the Greeks of the word Catholic when
used with reference to the Roman Church in contradistinction to the
Eastern Church.
IVERON 1 3 I
monastic inclosure begins. It is surrounded by fine
trees, the side of the hill on the south of the monastery
being especially well-wooded. Just below the convent
is the fortified port which Comnenus calls the Port of
Clement. This is the only evidence I have been able
to find in support of the assertion of Professor Damalas,
of the University of Athens, who told me that Iveron
was anciently called the Monastery of St. Clement.
We were received with great splendour. Under
the portico, which is supported by six marble columns
of rather poor design, was a priest in a phisnolion, or
chasuble, holding a richly bound copy of the Holy
Gospels. He was attended by monks with long and
thick wax candles, and two deacons, each dressed in a
stoicharion, or alb of cloth of gold, who censed the
Archbishop on each side with silver censers. Our
prelate was arrayed in a purple cope, and we all moved
in procession to the catholicon amidst the strains of
Byzantine chanting.
K 2
132 MOUNT ATHOS
The service of reception being concluded, we went
to the principal guest-room and had glyko and coffee ;
we were then shoAvn to our room, a large apartment
with plenty of windows and a divan, as usual, round
three of its walls.
We unpacked, read a little, and took a siesta. I
was driven away from my divan by the enemy that
crawls (or rather runs), and took refuge in the middle
of the room, lying on the matted floor with an air
cushion for a pillow. In the cool of the evening we
walked down to the sea, and did not return until supper
time. The oil was better here than at Stavroniketa,
but still far from good, and the viands dressed with it
were almost uneatable. We had a salad of raw onions
and tomatoes, stewed octopus, and snails boiled in oil,
also a few hard-boiled eggs, which were passable. All
eggs, of course, have to be brought to the promontory ;
milk is never seen here.
My companion, dainty as usual, would neither look
at the octopus nor the snails. I took some of both and
tried to like them. Octopus is like tough and insipid
lobster, and is quite eatable when you have conquered
your repugnance to the tentacles and their suckers.
Our table companions made a prodigious noise in
sucking the snails out of their shells ; pins are scarce
amongst the monks. I took a few, and promised to
eat more the next day if they would boil me some in
plain water.
This evening we developed some of our photo-
graphic negatives. There was a tap with a sink con-
veniently situated in the passage outside our room,
which we used until some enormous slugs, attracted by
the unusual flow of water, walked out of the drain and
IVERON — FOUNDATION T33
took possession of the developing trays, to our great
disgust.
Iveron was founded by three Iberians or Georgians,
by name John, Euthymius, and George, about the year
980, under the following circumstances : Romanus
Lecapenus (?), Emperor of Constantinople, had given
to David, prince or couropalate of Georgia, the country
of High Karthli, and David, as a proof of his fidelity
to the Emperor, had sent some of the principal per-
sonages of his court to Constantinople as hostages.
Among these were Euthymius, or Ewthym, and
his maternal grandfather Abougharb, eristhaw of the
Ksan. Now Ewthym's father, whose name was John,
had embraced the monastic life, and at the time of
sending the hostages was in one of the monasteries
of Mount Olympus. Hearing that his son had been
included in their number, he went to Constantinople to
claim him on the ground that he had been taken
without his consent, and finally took him away with
him to Olympus. Wearied with the homage paid to
him as a saint, he quitted this monastery with Ewthym
and certain of his disciples, and came to the Lavra at
Mount Athos. Here the father and son lived for some
time in company with the brother-in-law of the former,
one John Grdzelidz4 also called, more euphemistically,
Thornic, or Tornicius, who, it seems, was a distinguished
warrior. The party next migrated, for the sake of
greater retirement, to a secluded spot a mile from the
Lavra, where they built a church in honour of St. John
the Evangelist. Now the Emperor Basil H. being
terribly embarrassed by the revolt of Bardas Sklerus
(who had utterly routed the Byzantine general Bardas
Pochas), the queen mother, Theophano, having heard
134 MOUNT ATHOS
that Thornic was in Greece, sent an urgent letter to
him by a special messenger, begging him to repair
instantly to Constantinople. He complied, and after
consultation with the imperial court proceeded to
his native country to ask the aid of David. The
couropalate thereupon raised a body of 12,000
Georgians and placed them under the command of
Thornic. With these troops the warrior monk, aided
by his lieutenant Dchodchic, a Georgian prince, de-
feated Sklerus, forced him to fly into Persia, and
returned laden with rich booty. This was in the
year 979.^ Thornic returned to Mount Athos, resumed
the monastic habit, and with his share of the spoil
founded Iveron, or the Iberian monastery, being aided
by his kinsmen John and Ewthym and by Theophano,
who provided him with workmen and sacred vessels
for the church and endowed the house with farms and
lands. It is said that another relative joined the
monastic family in the person of one Waraz-Watche,
Thornic's brother. After the death of Thornic, John
wished to visit Spain, it being thought at that time that
the Spaniards and the Georgians were of the same
race, but he died before he could carry out his project.
He was succeeded in the government of the convent
by his son Ewthym. Ewthym made the first transla-
tion of the Bible from Greek into Georgian ; of this
I shall have occasion to speak in the account of the
library. His strict government caused discontent
amongst the monks, chiefly of Greek nationality, and
forced him to go to Constantinople for the purpose of
arranging the difficulties that had arisen. Here he
' A tattered fragment of the coat of mail which Thornic wore on this
occasion still hangs on the wall of the library, as also his bow, of the
Tartar shape and somewhat battered.
IVERON FOUNDATION 1 35
died on May 13, 1028, from an injury caused by a fall
from his horse.
Shortly after Ewthym's death the catholicon was
built by a monk named George Mthatsmidel, at the ex-
pense of the King Bagrat IV. of Georgia (102 7- 107 2).
I have little doubt that George Mthatsmidel is identical
with St. George of Athos, who succeeded Ewthym
either directly or after a short interval as abbot of
Iveron, who died in 1066 and who is commemorated
in the Georgian kalendar only (on June 27). St.
George retranslated the Holy Scriptures into Georgian.^
In the thirteenth century Iveron was ravaged by
Westerns, whether by the crusaders or by the Catalans
is doubtful ; the date given is 1 260. Shortly afterwards
it was again laid waste by the Emperor Michael
Palaeologus, who, for political reasons, had effected a
formal union with the Latin Church at the Council of
Lyons in the year 1274 by the aid of the Patriarch
Veccus, one of his creatures. This union was never
recognised by the bulk of the Eastern Church, Mount
Athos being the centre of the opposition to the im-
perial will, and consequently the monks of the Holy
Mountain had a very bad time from J 274 to 1280.^
Then Pope Nicholas III. died, and his successor,
Martin IV., excommunicated the Emperor as a hypo-
critical heretic, and so cut the one link that had feebly
bound the East to the West for six years.
The monastery was restored, but it was again laid
low by the Turks about the time of the fall of Con-
stantinople. At the end of the fifteenth century the
' For the greater part of this history I am indebted to Brosset's
Histoire de la G^orgie, St. Petersburg, 1849-58. I cannot find any
mention of Thornic by Byzantine writers.
^ See the history of the Monastery of Zographou.
136 MOUNT ATHOS
monks appealed successfully to the princes of Iberia>
or Georgia to aid in the restoration of their Iberian
house. It soon afterwards fell again into debt and
decay by reason of the oppression of the infidels, and
it was again assisted by Georgia in 1592.
In 1 6 14 Parthenius of the Morea and Gabriel of
Athos restored the hall at the charges of Radulas,
voivode of Hungaro-Vallachia. In 1674 another
Georgian prince bestowed gifts on the monastery, and
adorned the refectory with frescoes. Mouravieff states
that these have all been repainted except the portraits
of this Georgian prince and of Radulas. I did not
notice these frescoes particularly, so cannot give any
further information about them.
The monastery was completely destroyed by fire in
1865 with the exception of the isolated buildings in
the court (catholicon, Church of the Virgin Portress,
refectory, and certain offices) and, I think, the tower
opposite the gateway. This disaster has naturally
destroyed much of its interest. It is now rebuilt on
a more regular plan, with dividing walls at intervals
having iron doors in the corridors, which are supposed
to be fireproof. We often asked the monks at the
different convents why they did not insure their build-
ings at some Athenian insurance office, in view of the
frequent fires which attack and sometimes ruin them.
Their reply was always the same, that it had never
been the custom to do so, and they did not wish to try
a new thing. Truly Athos is the home of conserva-
tism ! The noisy epitropos of Stavroniketa said that
they preferred being in God's hands. If He willed
that they should be punished by fire, they would be,
and there was an end of it.
IVERON — CHURCHES 1 3/
The south-east corner of the monastery is still in
ruins, but the sea front we found nearly finished at the
time of our visit ; a rich old archimandrite, Athanasius,
who had been at Iveron for fifty years, was rebuilding
this part at his own expense, and very highly he stood
in the monastic opinion in consequence of his liberality.
A nice set of rooms was to be reserved in the new
building for the old fellow's private use.
These are the eighteen churches within the walls
of the convent.
1. The catholicon, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin ; containing two paracclesia, St. Nicholas and the Holy Arch-
angels.
2. The Church of the Virgin Portress.
3. The Forerunner (old catholicon).
(The above are situated in the courtyard.)
4. St. Modestus.
5. St. Dionysius, the Areopagite.
6. St. Spyridion.*
7. St. Neophytus.
8. St. Eustathius.
9. The Presentation »f the Blessed Virgin in the Temple.
10. St. Charalampes.
11. St. Stephen.
12. SS. Constantine and Helen.
13. The Transfiguration of Our Lord.
14. St. John the Divine ^
15. All Saints > burnt, and not yet restored.
16. St. Panteleemon J
17. St. George.
18. SS. John, Euthymius, and George ; ^ burnt, and not yet
restored.
£xocdesia.
1. The Panaghia.
2. Archangels.
^ One of the fathers of Nicaea. His entire body is preserved at
Corfu, with the exception of the right hand, which is at Rome.
* See above, p. 133.
138 MOUNT ATHOS
3. St. Basil.
4. The Presentation in the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
5. St. Tryphon.
6. The Five Martyrs — Eustratius, Mardarius, Orestes, Eugenius,
and Auxenius.
7. St. Demetrius.
8. St Minas.
9. St. Sabbas.
10. The Forty Martyrs.
Iveron possesses forty kellia and one skete dedicated
to St. John the Baptist.^ The archimandrite Porphyry
(from whom I have quoted before) gives the number
of monks attached to this skete as thirty. Fourteen
calyvia belong to the skete of St. John.
The cathoHcon possesses an esonarthex and an
exonarthex, the latter frescoed with the martyrdoms of
saints, and a pronaos.^
Behind the holy table, on a framework of curious
design, made of wood inlaid with ivory, which also
supports two candles, is a magnificent silver-gilt and
enamelled cross of the finest Byzantine work. It is
set with rubies and turquoises, and delicate little
dragons with rubies for eyes project like gargoyles
from the main stem.
The interior of the church is covered with frescoes,
and the floor is rich with opus Alexandrinum. Outside
is a bell tower containing eight small bells, and a large
one which was cast at Moscow.
' This skete is now about the same size as that of St. Demetrius
belonging to Vatopedi.
"^ The breadth of the nave is a little over 55 feet (I am not sure
from my notes whether or not this is the extreme breadth across tran-
septs) ; length from iconostasis to west wall, 38 feet. The bema or
sanctuary measures as follows : length from doors of iconostasis to end of
east apse, 2U feet ; breadth, 15^ feet, or, including the chapel of the
prothesis and the diaconicon, the same as the rest of the church.
PORTAITISSA 1 39
On the north side of the cathoHcon, near the
entrance to the monastery, is the Church of Our Lady
of the Gate, so called because it contains the famous
icon of the Portaitissa {no/aratTto-cra), or Portress, con-
cerning which the following wonderful story is told.
In the reign of Theophilus, the iconoclastic emperor
(829-842), this picture was accidentally discovered in a
widow's house at Nicsea by an imperial messenger
who had entered to rest. Drawmg his sword, he
struck the face of the Virgin, when blood spurted from
the picture over the insulter, who, terrified by the
occurrence, took to flight. The widow, fearing that
the matter would be noised abroad, cast the icon into
the sea. Seventy years afterwards, at the commence-
ment of the tenth century, Theophilus having been
long dead and Theodora having restored the use of
images in 842, the picture appeared off the coast of
Mount Athos, surrounded by rays of fire. The monks
having never before heard of a similar case of fire in
the midst of the sea., launched their boats and rowed
towards the apparition ; but as they approached the
iire receded, to their great disappointment. Then a
voice was heard, ' Gabriel the Georgian is worthy
to bear the icon of the Most Holy Virgin.' So the
monks went to the Georgian convent ^ and asked who
Gabriel might be. ' A hermit on the mountain,' was
the reply. They fetched him from his retreat, and de-
spatched him in a boat towards the fiery apparition.
Now the whole aspect of affairs was altered, for as fast
as Gabriel approached, so fast did the picture move
towards him, until at last the hermit stepped out of
1 Iveron was not founded at this time, but Georgians seem to have
frequented the Lavra.
140 MOUNT ATHOS
his boat, and walking boldly on the water met the icon
and conveyed it to the shore. This was on Easter
Tuesday. The monks brought the picture in procession
to Gabriel's convent, and by his advice placed it near
the portal, so that everyone going in or coming out
might have the opportunity of paying respect to it.
Thus it obtained its name of Portaitissa, and a church
was afterwards built to contain it by a Georgian called
Achothan, Prince of Moukhran.^
The patriarch Nicon, Russia's greatest ecclesiastic,
though a jealous reformer of abuses connected with
pictures, had a copy of this icon made and brought it
to Moscow, where it is still held in the highest vene-
ration and is known by the name of ' the Iberian
Mother of God.' Nicon also built a convent in Russia
in imitation of Iveron.
We visited the bakery with its large troughs for
kneading bread and a huge oven. The number of
pilgrims and hermits who aie daily dependent on the
monastery has been already mentioned in a former
chapter.
The monks get their commons every day after
vespers. There is a large refectory, now only used,
like that at Vatopedi, on great occasions. A pretty
white marble phiale, of recent construction, stands in
the court at the west end of the catholicon.
Iveron possesses an extremely rich library, con-
taining, amongst others, 1,384 Greek manuscripts. We
had no time to make anything but the most superficial
examination of this Biblical treasury. There are an
evangelistarium, dated 1386, containing some exceed-
ingly fine illuminations, eight or nine inches square ; a
' Brosset.
ST. EWTHYMS BIBLE 14!
large folio evangellstarium of 312 leaves ; a folio
patristic work beautifully bound and presented by
Dionysius, Patriarch of Constantinople ; a fine psalter,
and a large number of classics rather rare to find in
the Athos libraries. But the chief literary treasure is
undoubtedly the Georgian Bible in two very large and
thick folios bound in black leather. This is the original
manuscript, In the handwriting of St. Ewthym, of the
first translation made of the Holy Scriptures into that
language, a pious work undertaken by the founder of
Iveron, as has been before mentioned.^
* Whilst Dr. Pinkerton was making inquiries at St. Petersburg as to
a Georgian version of the Holy Scriptures, Prince George, son of the
last King of Georgia, informed him that whilst reading the annals of his
nation he had fallen upon a passage in which it was said that when St.
Euphemius (Ewthym) translated the Holy Scriptures into the Georgian
language he deposited a copy of it in the Iberian or Georgian monas-
tery at Mount Athos. On receipt of this information Pinkerton asked
Prince Galitzin, president of the Russian Bible Society, to write to the
Iberian monastery at Mount Athos and ascertain whether such a manu-
script still existed. Prince Galitzin complied with his request, and after
several months the following answer was returned :
' According to the request of your Highness, I have made proper
search in the library of this monastery. I have found different books in
the Georgian language, of which some are written on parchment and
others on paper.
' For a very long time we were entirely ignorant of their contents,
having no knowledge of the Georgian language. It is only between four
or five years that a Georgian monk, named Laurentius, visited this
monastery, whom we requested to examine these works, and it is from
his testimony and explication that the annexed catalogue has been pre-
pared.
' Among the said books there are two large volumes of the Old Testa-
ment on parchment. We possess also some other manuscripts in the
Georgian language, which are not indicated in the catalogue, and of the
names of which we are still ignorant.
' Respecting a manuscript of the Bible translated by St. George, the
first apostle of Christianity in ancient Iberia, we are entirely ignorant.
The manuscript of the Georgian Bible which we possess in our library
is in the handwriting of St. Euphemius, the Georgian, the founder and
the patron of the Holy Monastery, the Chrysostom of this nation, and the
142 MOUNT ATHOS
We did not find these Iberian monks quite so plea^
sant as those at most of the other monasteries. They
seemed to be of rather a lower class, with the exception
of the old archimandrite Athanasius : to him and his
attendant monk (who after his master's decease was to
slip into his easy shoes) we paid a formal visit. The
latter was very fond of watches, of which he had several,
and so made great friends with O — , as this happens
to be his particular hobby. I may here notice in passing
first who translated the Old and New Testament into the Georgian lan-
guage, and who gave to his countrymen translations of other works, and
also composed several himself.
' It is impossible for us at present to transcribe these books, as none
of us understand the Georgian language ; and it is equally impossible for
us to part with the originals mentioned in the catalogue, as the most
terrible excommunication and anathemas have, from time immemorial,
been pronounced by the Holy Synod and the Patriarchs against those
who should dare to carry away, or in any manner whatever dispose of,
a single volume of this library : the preservation of it is due to these sage
precautions.
'At different periods learned travellers and others have had per-
mission to read these books ; but none of them were ever allowed to
carry a single volume out of the monastery.
' From these circumstances your Highness will observe that the only
way to attain the laudable and Christian object in view will be to send
some persons learned in the Georgian language, in order to take a faith-
ful transcript of the Georgian Bible, or of any of the other manuscripts
which may be found salutary or useful.
'When such individuals shall arrive here they shall be fraternally
welcomed by us, and we shall do our utmost to afford them every possi-
ble facility in order to obtain the desired object.
' (Signed) Nicephor,
' Librarian of the Iberian Monastery of Mount Athos.
Mount Athos : October 15, 181 7.
Thirty-nine Georgian manuscripts were named in the catalogue,
mostly on theological subjects, amongst them the Old Testament in two
volumes, the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Psalms, the
Gospels in the vulgar idiom, the commentaries of St. Chrysostom on St.
Matthew's and St. John's Gospels, the works of St. Gregory the Theo-
logue, the discourses and moral maxims of St. Basil the Great, the auto-
graph works of St. Euphemius the Georgian.
Seethe Sixteenth Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1820.
IVERON — GOVERNMENT 1 43
that in the clock tower of the monastery is an ancient
clock of Venetian or Genoese construction, probably
one of the earliest timepieces in existence. It has no
pendulum, but an escapement somewhat resembling-
that of a verge watch ; this, having been broken, was
fastened to the beam above by two wires.
O — asked one of the monks how it went, and
jokingly suggested it might lose an hour in a week.
' Oh, yes,' replied the monk, not at all astonished, ' quite
that.'
The night before our departure from Iveron we
devoted the time after supper to extracting information
about the monastery from one of the epitropoi. I use
the word ' extracting ' advisedly ; it is necessary to use
the ' screw ' before you can get statistics out of an
Oriental.
Iveron has 200 monks, ^ who now follow the
idiorrhythmic rule. There are sixty lay servants.
Like Vatopedi, this monastery is governed by three
epitropoi, or rather l^y two epitropoi and a dicaios, or
prior, who ranks as an epitropos ; also by a deliberative
assembly of the proesta7nenoi {irpoeaTdfievoL). These
are the ' aristocracy ' of the place, being the oldest
and richest of the monks, and correspond, I presume,
to the synaxis at Vatopedi. As at Vatopedi, the epi-
tropoi are the executive of this assembly. The com-
munity possesses lands in Macedonia, Thrace, Thasos,
and, I believe, in Georgia also. Two monasteries in
Moldavia and Vallachia formerly belonged to Iveron,
from which it received an annual income of about
2,400/. These were lost in 1865.
We somehow missed seeing the relics when we
' A hundred and seventy of these are Greeks.
144 MOUNT ATHOS
visited the catholicon ; so I asked the chief epitropos,
through Angelos, to give me ahstof the principal ones.
I thought the question harmless, but the old gentleman
became huffy and said that all their relics were ' prin-
cipal ; ' there was no difference between them, obsti-
nately refusing to give us any further information.
Whether Angelos had misinterpreted my question, or
whether the epitropos thought we were going to scoff,
I cannot tell. Seeing that something was the matter,
we did not press him further.
I may here mention that in each monastery the key
of the outer gate is brought to the superior every even-
ing at sunset, after which hour no one is admitted
within the walls except under very special circumstances.
The great key of Iveron was brought to the epitropos
as we were sitting with him before supper. It mea-
sures nine and a half inches in length.
PHILOTHEOU 1 45
CHAPTER XL
Amidst the grove that crowns yon tufted hill,
Which, were it not for many a mountain nigh
Rising in lofty ranks, and loftier still,
Might well itself be deem'd of dignity.
The convent's white walls glisten fair on high :
Here dwells the caloyer ; nor rude is he,
Nor niggard of his cheer the passer-by
To welcome still ; nor heedless will he flee
From hence, if he delight kind Nature's sheen to see.
Childe Harold.
Friday, Atigtist ^. We started early for Philotheou,
and had a charmingly pretty ride to that monastery.
It is some distance inland (about three miles), being a
thousand feet above the sea-level, but it commands an
extensive view of the Strymonic gulf with the island
of Thasos in the distance. We reached Philotheou a
little before eleven o'clock, and were received in the
usual manner, i.e. with bells and procession. Having
had nothing wherewith to fortify the inner man that
morning, except some Turkish coffee and dry bread,
we were naturally ravenous, but had to wait a very
long time whilst our dinner was being prepared. So,
much against the will of the Archbishop, who hated
anything like energy, we determined upon visiting the
catholicon and the library beforehand. The former
contains a remarkable picture of the Blessed Virgin,
to my mind the finest specimen of the Byzantine school
on Athos. The Mother is represented in the act of
L
146 MOUNT ATHOS
kissing the Child, whose arm hangs down naturally.
It is attributed to the great Evangelist-painter, and
is called the Glykophilousa {rXvKO(f)L\ov(Ta), or the
Sweetly-kissing One. Like the Portaitissa, it was thrown
into the sea at the time of the iconoclasts, and being
wafted to Athos was brought ashore by the fathers.
Where it landed a spring gushed forth. This spring
still exists, but we had no time to visit it, as it is some
way from the monastery. It is represented in the print
of the monastery which was given to us by the monks,
as being on the shore, close to the port. This icon
is placed against the north-east pillar which supports
the dome.
The catholicon is dedicated to the Annunciation.
In ancient times the convent itself was called the
Monastery of the Annunciation, and not Philotheou ;
at least so the monks say. There are two paracclesia,
dedicated to the Forerunner and the Archangels.^
As usual, stalls run round the whole church, includ-
ing the narthex, and the walls are frescoed. These were
repainted in 1765. In the esonarthex, which is par-
ticularly large, is a curious fresco, on the north wall
near a small doorway, representing a monk nailed to a
cross ; the Seven Deadly Sins are shooting arrows at
him, whilst an angel appears above holding out to him
a crown of glory. On the breast of the monk is this
inscription : KapSiav Kadapav KTiaov iv ifxol, a) 0eo9
(' Make me a clean heart, O God '). Truly a touch-
ing emblem of the monastic life, which even in these
' The catholicon measures 33 feet from iconostasis to the west wall
of nave ; across the nave from north to south, 28 feet, or, across transepts,
39 feet. The esonarthex measures 22^ feet from east to west ; the sanc-
tuary is 13 feet in breadth, and 13^ feet from iconostasis to the east end
of the apse.
RELICS LIBRARY
M7
solitudes is exposed to the temptations of the flesh
and the devil, although the world may have been re-
nounced and left behind for ever. In the exonarthex
are frescoes representing scenes from the Apocalypse.
All over the Holy Mountain one finds that these
frescoes have suffered curious mutilations. Whilst the
figures of the saints have escaped, those of the devils
have been scratched, cut about, and frequently have
had their eyes gouged out. This was done by the
Turkish soldiers, 3,ocxd of whom were quartered on
the monasteries from 1821 to 1830.^ These infidels,
whilst respecting the Christian saints as holy men or
dervishes, who might do them harm if insulted, vented
their wrath on the fiends, so that at the time of our
visit there was hardly a single devil that had had the
good luck to escape with an uninjured face. No doubt
all will be graduall / restored to their pristine ugliness.
The chief relics preserved in the catholicon are
a portion of the True Cross, the right hand of St.
Chrysostom,''^ and a. bone of St. Marina. The prin-
cipal books in the library are an uncial manuscript in
quarto, containing part of the Gospels (imperfect), of
the eighth century, another manuscript of the Gospels
with fine full-page illuminations of the Four Evange^
lists, and one of the twelfth century written in double
columns with one or two small illuminations and bound
in red velvet. There are also two rolls of the four-
teenth century, containing the liturgy of St. Basil.
* During the War of Independence Athos wavered between patriotism
and gratitude to the Turks, who had loyally kept their promises since the
conquest. The monks finally determined to remain neutral, but the
Turks quartered troops upon the monasteries as a precaution.
^ This relic was given to the monastery by the Emperor Andronicus
II. in the year 1284. — Muralt.
L 2
148
MOUNT ATHOS
Having completed our investigations of the catholicon
and the library, we asked for the long-expected repast,
but were told that it would not be ready for another
half-hour at the least ; so we determined to occupy the
time by taking a photograph of the monastery. We
crossed a pretty little paddock bounded by a rivulet
which trickled under the trees, forming a scene which
reminded us of a bit of English meadowland. Having
ascended the side of the hill and planted our camera
MONASTERY OF PHILOTHEOU,
in a vineyard, we obtained a fair view of the monastery.
Carefully focussing the picture, we handed over the
remainder of the process to the Archbishop's care, and
he acquitted himself nobly, to his great content.
Dinner came at last, and very acceptable it was ;
for my part I could almost have eaten an octopus alive,
but we had nothing to complain of in the fare provided
for us. Afterwards we sat on the divan drinking the
epilecanion {f.iriXcKoivLOp) — literally, ' the wine drunk after
niiLOTiiEou 149
the dishes ' — and coffee. This epilecanion is generally
a strong, sweet wine, different from that which is
drunk during dinner ; it is brought to the divan
after every meal.
The two epitropoi, the archimandrites Eustratius
and Simeon, were well-educated and pleasant men ;
the former had been in England. We had a long and
interesting conversation with them, chiefly about unity
and the Anglican Church. Our photographs of the
Archbishop of Canterbury and English churches were
much appreciated, and our prelate of Cavalla described
his impressions of the liturgy of St. Gregory Dia-
logos. Altogether we spent a very pleasant day at
Philotheou, and should have stayed longer but that
we heard, to our dismay, that this was the very night
when the monks of Athos celebrate the liturgy on the top
of the Holy Mountain in the little chapel of the Trans-
figuration. The Feast of the Transfiguration is kept on
the same day as in our own Church, i.e. on August 6.
We had timed our departure from England so as
to allow of our being present at this special service ;
but somehow or other, partly through carelessness,
partly through the difference between the old and new
styles, we had miscalculated the day. We resolved on
making a supreme effort to get to the Lavra in time,
so at once ordered the mules to be got ready, and
started from Philotheou at 2.30 p.m.
Before proceeding, I had better give the particulars
concerning this monastery.
Philotheou is an idiorrhythmic convent, containing
fifty monks and twenty servants. Some think that the
founders were Leo II., King of Kachetia, and his son
Alexander II., who succeeded him on the throne. Leo
I5Q MOUNT ATHOS
reigned from 1 520 to 1 574, and was twenty-five years of
age in 1531, when the monastery is said to have been
founded. Alexander was only four at that time, so he
must have finished what his father had begun. ^ The
monks informed us that it was founded before the ninth
century, when it was called simply the Monastery of the
Annunciation, but that between that time and the tenth
century it was restored by a certain Patriarch of Con-
stantinople called Philotheos, from whom it derived its
present name. John Comnenus says that it was built by
three men called Arsenius, Philotheos, and Dionysius
before the twelfth century, and repaired by Leo, King
of Kachetia (Leo I. ?), and his son Alexander in the
year from Adam 7000. On the whole I think we may
admit that the monastery was founded in early times,^
either by Philotheos alone or by the three above-men-
tioned persons, that Leo II. rebuilt it, or perhaps re-
founded it, in 1 53 1, and that Alexander I. finished his
father's work ; the connection of these two kings with
the monastery is an historical fact.
Philotheou was entirely burnt in 1871, with the
exception of the catholicon. The restoration is now
nearly completed. It possesses lands in Thasos and
Cassandra, and fourteen kellia on the Holy Mountain.
The following is a list of the churches attached to it :
Esocdesia.
1. The catholicon, dedicated to the Annunciation ; containing
two paracclesia, dedicated to the Forerunner and the Archangels.
2. St. Chrysostom.
3. St. Nicholas.
4. St. Marina,
5. The Five Martyrs.
' Brosset, Histoire de la Giorgie. '■' See second note on page 147.
DEPARTURE FROM PHILOTHEOU I5I
Exocdesia.
1. All Saints.
2. The Three Hierarchs (SS. Basil, Chrysostom, and Gregory)
3. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.
4. The Prophet Elias.
5. St. Anthony,'
We wished to ride direct to the Lavra, passing by
Caracalla in order to save time ; but the Archbishop
said that it was not the custom to take the mules of one
monastery beyond the next convent, and that, as the
Lavra was many hours' ride, it would not be fair to ask
our kind hosts to break through the ordinary rule. So
we arranged to ride to Caracalla, obtain fresh mules
from that monastery as soon as possible, and then pro-
ceed on our journey.
It took us about thirty-five minutes to reach Cara-
calla, the road quickly descending through woodlands
under the shade of splendid chestnuts and beeches.
We had sent on word from Philotheou that we wished
to have the mules re^dy for us on our arrival, but of
course they were not forthcoming, so, much against our
will, we went upstairs and had glyko and coffee. The
room in which we were received was circular with a
very low divan round the walls. We told the monks
of our anxiety to get to the Lavra in time to make the
ascent of the peak that night. This, they said, was
impossible, but they would do their best to hasten
us on our journey by sending us by sea, which route
would save us considerable time. So, telling the
^ The great founder of monasticism. Born a.d. 250 in Egypt, of
wealthy parents, at the age of eighteen he sold all that he had and gave
to the poor, retiring to the awful solitudes of the Thebaid. After exerting
an extraordinary influence over the Christian world, he died at the ad-
vanced age of 105 years.
1 5^ MOUNT ATHOS
monks that we should return to Caracalla before leaving
the Holy Mountain, we mounted our mules and rode
down to the port of the monastery in half an hour.
We embarked in a tolerably large rowing-boat, putting
all our luggage at the bottom to serve as ballast.
The sea was by no means smooth, and the Arch-
bishop was evidently unaccustomed to the billowy
deep. He was sitting by my side on one of the port-
manteaux, and at each large wave he clutched me
tightly by the knee. Angelos having explained to him
that I was acquainted with the art of swimming, I felt
tolerably certain that in case of a disaster he intended
to hang on to my leg. Very soon, however, the prelate
had the laugh. Like him, the sea had filled me with
apprehensions, though of a different kind, and after
about twenty minutes' tossing I withdrew to a more
retired position in the stern of the boat. * Voila,'
said the Archbishop to O — , in great glee, ' il est
malade ! Ha ! ha ! la mer n'est pas bonne pour lui ! '
And my unfeeling fellow-travellers joined in giving
vent to considerable merriment at my expense.
Between Caracalla and the Lavra there existed
formerly a Latin monastery containing orthodox^
monks, who came originally from Amalfi. Mouravieff
says, * I saw in an Athos deed, bearing the date of
1 169, a Latin Inscription of the Amalfitanhegoumenos.'^
The ruins of this monastery still, it is said, exist..
We heard nothing about it at Athos, but we made no
inquiries, not being at that time aware of its having
had an existence. O — maintains that as we passed
' De Vogijd says that this convent, Omorphono, was founded at the in
stigationof Pope Innocent III. to latinize Athos {Syrie, Palestine, Mont-
Athos. Paris, 1878).
'^ See Christian Remembrancer iox 185 1.
ARSENAL OF THE LAVRA
153
along the shore he saw a ruined tower, which the
monks said was a ruined monastery, but of which
they did not tell him the name. Ruined towers and
Latin monasteries had no seductions for me at that
time ; the only thing I cared about was to see the port
of the Lavra.
At last we reached the port, or * arsenal,' having
been two hours and a half on the voyage. Here it
was that Curzon landed on the Holy Mountain in 1837.
PORT OF THE LAVRA.
The landing-place is charmingly pretty. The entrance
is very narrow, not more than fifteen feet from rock to
rock ; below water it must be as narrow as ten. On
your right as you enter is a small castle with a massive
square tower in the midst. One can easily picture to
one's self the stout defence it must have made in days
gone by against the pirates who swarmed in these
seas, how the valiant monks with their lay brethren
would man the walls, and how a shower of arrows, and
154 MOUNT ATIIOS
perhaps ball and Greek fire too, would be directed
towards the aggressors from every loophole and battle-
ment. Now all is changed, and though the little
drawbridge is still raised every evening, through old
custom, everything around has slumbered peacefully
for the last hundred years. Projecting rooms with low
roofs are built on the top of the walls, as at the monas-
teries, and the building is inhabited by two or three old
monks, who divide their time between prayer, cultivat-
ing their vegetables, and fishing in the sea. The little
schooner belonging to the Lavra, clean and trim, lies
securely at her moorings inside the breakwater, and
besides the castle there is a boathouse in which the
monks keep their tackling and appliances for fishing.
We landed, and, as I still felt ill, 1 left the party to
go up to the Lavra with the luggage, whilst I sat down
to rest under the mulberry trees, which with figs and
olives grow down to the water's edge. After about a
quarter of an hour I partially recovered, and passing
the Byzantine castle walked up a long and steep lane,
paved with large stones and planted on each side with
trees, the tops of which nearly met over the road.
Presently the great monastery appeared above me,
stretching for an immense distance along the hillside
and surrounded with a high wall flanked with many
towers. It was getting dusk as I entered the gate and
made my way to the room where the Archbishop and
O — were being received. Supper was soon served,
but I could not touch a morsel, and so put up my
levinge, and not long afterwards fell asleep. All our
haste had been thrown away ; under any circumstances
I could not have made the ascent of the mountain that
night. O — tried to start, but the monks said it would
AN ATHOS CHAMBER I 55
be impossible to go until morning, even though a
bright moon was shining. As we afterwards found,
they were quite right ; the path was too difficult to
have been attempted by moonlight.
Our room at the Lavra was of considerable pro-
portions, being at least forty feet by thirty, and was a
good specimen of the better class of rooms at the
Athos monasteries. It projected over the outside
walls of the convent for about six feet, this part
being constructed entirely of timber and supported by
brackets of the same material. Windows through
which there was a beautiful view of the sea occupied
the whole of the front of this overhanging portion,
and two other windows were inserted in the sides
of the six-feet projection. There was a divan round
three sides of the room, the central portion along the
window side being the place of honour. Cushions
were placed at intervals along the divan, and the floor
was covered with matting. In the centre of the room
stood a small table, and I think there were three
common chairs. But there was one other feature of
this apartment which is so characteristic of Athos
rooms that I must not omit to mention it. On the
side opposite the windows a portion of the room — say,
six feet in width — was cut off by a screen going straight
across from wall to wall, having a balustrade at the
bottom, with open spaces between pillars above. This
forms a sort of anteroom or vestibule ; the matting
does not begin till you enter the room proper, generally
by a step through an archway in the centre of the
screen ; here it was that Angelos used to pull off my
high riding-boots and produce my pair of red Turkish
slippers when we entered the reception room of any
T56 MOUNT ATHOS
monastery ; for, as it is customary to put your feet
upon the divan, it is considered polite to remove your
dirty boots beforehand. The Archbishop used to sit
cross-legged on the cushions, a feat which causes the
average European excruciating agony, so we used to
compromise the matter by lounging on our elbows,
after the manner of the ancient Romans at their
meals. The walls are usually quite bare, and were
so here, plastered and whitewashed. A shelf about
six feet from the floor runs round the room, and
there is generally a photograph of the Patriarch
of Constantinople ; sometimes, though rarely, other
pictures.
We were waited upon by the most inquisitive man it
has ever been my unhappy lot to fall in with. He was
a young and rather good-looking monk, with a pale face
and dark hair. None of our possessions escaped his at-
tention. If I went to my portmanteau he would follow
for the purpose of scrutinizing its contents, and a dirty
hand would undertake a voyage of discovery amongst
my clean linen. If I produced any article, such as a
tooth brush, for instance, he would ask, ' What is it ? '
and when I explained its use would exclaim, * Kyrie
eleison ! ' ^ in his astonishment at the wonderful Frank
inventions. If I took up a book he would come and
look over my shoulder and finally take it out of my
hand, saying, ' What is it ? what is it ? ' and proceed
to read it, as likely as not upside down. For some
little time he amused us by his naive simplicity and
childishness, but at last our patience became exhausted
and we cast about for some plan to rid us of our
' This is a frequent exclamation amongst the monks, and exactly
answers to the * Lawk-a-mussy !' of our lower orders in England.
A CURE FOR CURIOSITY I57
tormentor. O — suggested a good dose out of the
medicine chest, and I remembered that I had a box of
very strong and large pills, covered with gold and
silver leaf, labelled ' Native,' which I had had specially
made the year before to please and astonish the natives
of Persia ; for when you are travelling in the East you
are constantly asked for medicine. ' Now,' thought I,
' a nice dose of two, or even three, of those boluses will
do our friend a world of good ; he won't know whether
he is on his head or his heels the next morning, and
he will be for ever cured of meddling with Prankish
things. Besides he is quite young enough to be able
to learn manners.' So we opened the portmanteaux
and searched for the pill-box, our friend taking the
greatest interest in the proceedings, little knowing
what was in store for him. We could not find the
box anywhere, although we pulled out all our things,
to the young monk's huge delight, in our efforts to find
it. Then we turned to the basket and searched high
and low for it, but without success.
' What a nuisance,' said O — , * to have brought
that box so far with us (I am sure I saw it at the last
monastery), and then to have lost it just when we
wanted it ! '
However, we certainly had lost it, and we began
to think that our little practical joking was at an end,
when I suddenly remembered that we possessed a
bottle containing a powerful solution of ammonia, that
I had had made of more than usual strength before
starting, for the purpose of applying to the bites
of mosquitoes and other venomous insects. Being
anxious that my friend should fall into his own trap, I
took the bottle out of the case, which was lying on the
158 MOUNT ATHOS
table, withdrew the stopper, and applied my nose to it,
shutting my eyes and pretending to inhale the marvel-
lous perfume. Quick as thought the monk was at my
elbow. * Ti enc f ' said he, as he snatched the bottle
out of my hand. I made no reply, but simply gave it
over to him. He took a prodigious sniff, and I verily
believe thought at first that his head was off! The
tears streamed from his eyes, while he choked and
gasped for breath. ' Ky-ky-kyrie eleison ! ' how strong
it was ! Angelos, who was present at the time, tho-
roughly enjoyed the joke and shouted with laughter at
the monk's discomfiture, and the latter joined in the
merriment when he found that he was not seriously
injured after all, and begged me to lend him the
wonderful bottle (which he handled very carefully),
as he wished to play the same trick on some of his
brother monks. He caught two or three most success-
fully, but by this time Angelos had spread the story
round the monastery, and I have no doubt the joke
against him was not easily forgotten.
At 3 P.M. on the day after our arrival we took a
walk in the neighbourhood of the convent in the com-
pany of Angelos, who carried the photographic appa-
ratus, for we hoped to take a good view of the monastic
buildings from the mountain-side. The Lavraissome
height above the sea, about three-quarters of a mile
from the shore, and is situated at the south-east corner
of the promontory, at the very foot of the mountain.
We climbed past a mill, which is worked in a manner
sufficiently curious to be described. There are no per-
manent streams at Athos of sufficient power to work a
waterwheel, so the monks have hit upon the following
device. A reservoir to contain the water which runs
A LAVRA KELLI
159
down from the hills in little rivulets has been built just
above the mill. When the latter is to be worked, a
sluice is opened in the side of the reservoir, and the
water is allowed to escape down a steep gully to the
wheel. Thus the extent of the fall is taken advantage
of, so as to economise the water, very little of which is
spent in driving the wheel.
A short distance above the reservoir is a kelli, and
on the verandah of this little house stood an old man,
THE LAVRA.
who, we perceived, was beckoning and shouting an invi-
tation in Romaic. Anxious to see the inside of a kelli,
we went up to the old fellow, who said that he was the
archimandrite Simeon, expressed himself highly grati-
fied at the honour we were doing him, and showed us
what a fine view of the Lavra could be obtained from his
verandah. So we brought the camera to this wooden
balcony, which groaned and creaked most ominously as
we walked over the rotten timbers. ' Don't be afraid,'
l6o MOUNT ATHOS
said old Simeon ; ' if you take care not to stand too
close together the balcony won't give way.' Angelos
wisely remained inside whilst we arranged the camera
and took the photograph. Our cheery old host brought
out glyko and coffee, and we talked to him about his
little property. He had bought the life tenancy of the
kelli from the Lavra, and with it the fifteen stremmata
of land attached to it. Three young monks lived with
him as his servants, and the vegetables from their
garden, added to the fish they caught in the sea,
enabled them all to subsist together comfortably and
contentedly.
Like most tenants the archimandrite had a grumble
against his landlords, and, as we considered, a fair one.
' They won't put my balcony in order,' said he ; ' I am
always telling them that it will come down some fine
day, for I sha'n't do anything to it'
However, he thought it might last out his lifetime,
and if he does not ask too many young Englishmen
with their fat dragomans to call on him I dare say it
will. We asked our host if we might see the little
church attached to his kelli, and, being infirm and the
staircase steep and rickety, he directed his younger
brethren to escort us thither. We went into the garden
and thence to the church — an offshoot, as it were,
from the house. Picking our way through the onions
and other vegetables stored on the floor of the narthex,
we entered the building, which was dedicated to St.
Athanasius (of Athos ?). It had old paintings on the
iconostasis. and a few stasidia, or stalls, round the
walls. The old archimandrite managed to get down
to the garden by the time we left the church, and
as a parting gift presented us with two large and
THE LAVRA
i6i
ripe pears. So we bade adieu to our new friend and
returned to the monastery, which I will here describe
as best I can.
It is surrounded, like Vatopedi, by high and strong
walls, with towers at intervals, several of which have
escaped the levelling process. These towers and part
of the walls are battlemented ; the rest of the walls are
built upon, with overhanging rooms, as at the other
COURTYARD OF THE LAVRA.
monasteries. There is but one entrance, defended by
several iron doors ; and a porch, consisting of a dome
supported by four marble columns, stands in front of
the outer gate. I may here mention that only very
great people ride up to the gate of a monastery ; you
descend from your mule at a longer or shorter distance
from the entrance, according to your rank.
Inside the Lavra is a confused mass of buildings
of every shape and size ; even those which surround
the court are built of various heights and patterns, with
roofs of different pitch and level ; here a balcony pro-
M
I 62 MOUNT ATHOS
jects, there a verandah or an arcade breaks the surface
of the wall ; and in the centre of the quadrangle (if
one may apply that word to an inclosure which is
made up of angles) are churches, domestic offices,
trees, and fountains, dotted about in picturesque con-
fusion. There are no blank walls or pavements ; all
is cut up into little courts and nooks and corners,
casting well-defined lights and shadows under the
Eastern sky, enough to make this ancient monastery
a very paradise for artists. It has never been burnt,
and this accounts to a great extent for its picturesque
irregularity.
The name of the monastery Is derived from the
word \avpa, meaning a /a/ie or s^reel between houses.
Readers of ecclesiastical history will remember that
this was the ancient name for a monastery, signifying
that it was but a collection of separate houses or cells,
where individual monks lived, a sort of town of
hermits. Whether this was the first monastery, pro-
perly so called, on Athos, in which the independent
monks were gathered together between four walls,
and so received the name of the Lavra, or whether it
was dignified with the title on account of its superior
size and wealth, is a disputed point amongst travellers.
Some think that its founder, St. Athanasius of Athos
(of whom more presently), was the first who ever built
a monastery on the Holy Mountain. As he lived in
the tenth century, this would falsify many of the early
traditions of the place ; and since the Monastery of
Xeropotamou is known to have been restored by the
Emperor Romanus Lecapenus in 924,^^ about forty
years before St. Athanasius founded the Lavra, this
' Tozer's Highlands of Turkey^ vol. i. p. i n.
ST. ATHANASIUS OF ATHOS 1 63
fact proves that at least one convent existed before
his time. Probably the early history of Athos will
never have much light thrown on it, and we must be
content with going back only so far as the tenth
century for our earliest historical character of whose
existence and connection with Athos there can be no
manner of doubt.
St. Athanasius the Athonite was a Georgian by
nation, who came from Trebizonde to Mount Athos
about the year 950, and founded the Lavra in 963 or
964, chiefly at the expense of the Emperor Nicephorus
Phocas, to whom the saint had foretold a victory over
the Saracens. It is said that Nicephorus had some
thoughts of retiring to Athos himself, but the purple
proved to have superior attractions for him. In other
respects this emperor, though he seems to have been
a religious man in spite of Gibbon's insinuation of
insincerity, was an enemy to the monasteries, for-
bidding their foundation and enacting a sort of
Byzantine Statute ©f Mortmain. He also had a
weakness for keeping bishoprics and other prefer-
ments vacant for a considerable time, during which he
enjoyed their revenues, a trick not uncommon with
temporal rulers of the Church. But the founder of
the Lavra died with a prayer for pardon on his lips
(' O God, grant me Thy mercy ') when he was foully
assassinated on December 10,969 — 'a brave soldier,
an able general, and, with all his defects, one of
the most virtuous men and conscientious sovereigns
that ever occupied the throne of Constantinople.' ^
John Zimiskes, the murderer of Nicephorus and his
successor on the imperial throne, is said to have
' Finlay's History of Greece^ vol. ii. p. 334.
M 2
164 MOUNT ATHOS
enriched the Lavra, and long afterwards Neagulus,
Hospodar of Moldo-Vallachia, bestowed benefactions
upon it.
Many are the stories told of the illustrious St.
Athanasius the Athonite, of the wonders that he
wrought and the visions vouchsafed to him, and how
the Virgin Mother used to appear to him and aid him
in his work. Once, when disheartened at his diffi-
culties and despairing of the welfare of the monastery,
he resolved to abandon his design and resume his old
hermit's life ; so turning his back upon the house he
set out to seek some retired spot, where he could
devote his time to religion, undisturbed by worldly
cares and temporal affairs. But God barred his way,
as He did the path of Balaam, for as he went the
Mother of God herself appeared to him, demanding
of him why he had fled the Lavra ; and when
Athanasius replied that he and his monks lacked the
necessaries of life, she told him to return and all should
be supplied. The saint, astonished at this command
from a woman, inquired who she w^as. * I am the
Mother of Jesus Christ,' replied St. Mary. But St.
Athanasius, having had already not a few dealings
with the old enemy, that * tortuosus serpens' answered,
• Pardon me, O Lady, if I do not believe before I see
a sign ; for many are the snares of Satan.' So the
Holy Virgin bade him take his staff and strike a rock
at the side of the path in the form of a cross and in the
name of the All Holy Trinity, that so, by the grace
of her Son, water would gush forth. He did so, and
from the stone poured streams of water, clear as
crystal, which since that day have never ceased to
flow. Then St. Athanasius, perceiving the finger of
THE LAVRA THE CAPSOCALYVI 1 65
God, was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision,
but turninof back aq^ain remained at the Lavra till the
day of his death.^
One hundred and seventy monks belong to this
monastery, who follow the idiorrhythmic rule : their
numbers seem to have increased by thirty during the
last fifty years. There are also a hundred lay servants.
It possesses land in Lemnos, Imbros, Scyros, Thrace,
and Macedonia. There are three sketes attached to
it — St. Anne and the Prodromos, both of which will
be described later on, and the Capsocalyvi (/cavo-o-
koKv^l), dedicated to the Holy Trinity. This skete
acquired its odd name, literally * The Burnt Cottage,'
io this manner : Long ago there lived on Athos a
certain holy man, by name Maximus, who, not being
content with the ordinary hermit's life, used to construct
a little temporary hut or booth, in which he would
spend a year, and then setting fire to it would migrate
to another place, where he would build himself another.
The skete was founded in the year 1 745, on the site
of one of the temporary habitations of this good
hermit. We did not visit it, but were informed by
the secretary of the Holy Synod, Dimopoulos of
Vatopedi, that the Capsocalyvi was larger than the
skete of St. Demetrius, which contains fifty monks and
will be hereafter noticed.
The monastery possesses five cathismata and forty
kellia, besides the calyvia attached to the three sketes.
The government is entrusted to the assembly of the
proestamenoi and two epitropoi, who at the time of our
visit were the monks Gabriel and Nicandros. There
^ John Comnenus, Upoa-Kvvrjrdpiov. Georgirenes, Present State of
Satnos^ St'c.
I 66 MOUNT ATHOS
are nineteen churches within the walls and five without,
as follows :
Eiocclesia.
1. The catholicon, St. Athanasius of Athos ; contains two
paracclesia, the Forty Martyrs and St. Nicholas.
2. St. Athanasius of Athos.
3. St. Nicholas.
4. The Holy Unmercenaries.
5. The Assumption of Our Lady.
6. St. Stephen Protomartyr.
7. The Panaghia Coucouzelissa.
8. The Holy Trinity.
9. The Forerunner.
10. St. George.
11. St. John the Divine.
12. St. Basil.
13. All Saints.
14. St. Michael, Bishop of Sunadon.
15. St. Modestus.
16. St. Charalampes.
17. St. Theodore.
18. The Archangels.
19. St. Onouphrius.
Exocclesia.
1. St. Gregory.
2. The Prophet Elias.
3. St. Paraskeue.^
4. The Holy Apostles.
5. The Holy Unmercenaries.
This last church is about half an hour from the
Lavra, and is said to have been built by St. Athanasius
' St. Paraskeue, or St. Friday, to translate her name into English,
called after the day of the week upon which she was born, suffered mar-
tyrdom by decapitation in the year of our Salvation 140, on her refusal to
worship idols. She is reported to have employed to the heathen the
answer recommended by Jeremiah : ' The gods that have not made the
heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from
under these heavens.'
THE LAVRA — CATHOLICON 167
in the space of twenty-four hours, after it had been
repeatedly destroyed by devils during the nights of its
construction. A picture representing this miracle is
in the church of the Panaghia Coucouzelissa.
The catholicon ^ is remarkable in that the central
dome is not supported by the usual four pillars. The
narthex is divided by two columns into a quasi-esonar-
thex and exonarthex. All the frescoes in the narthex
were repainted in the worst possible taste in 1852. The
brazen doors, however, leading from the narthex into
the church are worthy of notice. There is a pronaos,
the arches of which are filled with glazed windows.
The floor of the church is paved with various marbles.
In the transepts above the stalls the walls are de-
corated with tiles of a blue-green pattern on a white
ground. These tiles are continued for four feet above
the backs of the stalls ; then come the old frescoes,
untouched, but almost obliterated by damp and age.
Many old icons hang on the walls of the sanctuary,
and the apse is furnished with a stone seat round the
wall, with the synthronos, or throne of the bishop of
the diocese. Over this throne is a painted figure of St.
Athanasius, given by John Blantis, a Vallachian prince.
At the east end of the apse too is a small marble
table which covers the place where St. Athanasius and
four workmen fell from the roof and were killed during
' It measures 35 feet from the iconostasis to west wall of nave, and 55
feet across the transepts. The sanctuary is 20A feet from iconostasis to east
end of the apse, and 17^ from north to south, not including the chapel of the
prothesis and the diaconicon. The narthex measures 26^ feet from east
to west, and 36^ from north to south, exclusive of the two paracclesia of
the Forty Martyrs and St. Nicholas, which are situated, the former on the
north, the latter on the south side of the nave and narthex of the central
church. The total width of the narthex, including the paracclesia, is 79
feet.
t68 mount athos
the building of the church. I cannot find any account
of St. Athanasius's death besides this, which the monks
affirmed to be the true story. An ancient cross of
silver gilt studded with precious stones stands behind
the holy table. The metal work is plain, with medallions
of saints at the extremities of the arms and one repre-
senting Christ in the centre. It measures three feet
eight inches in height (not including the staff), and two
feet four and a half inches across. Its metal surface
is inscribed with the verse from the Psalms :
Through Thee will we overthrow our enemies, and in Thy Name
will we tread them under that rise up against us.' ' Ps. xliv. 6 (Sept.
Ver. xliii. 6).
On each side of the holy doors is an icon, one of
Christ, the other of the Blessed Virgin. These pictures,
with the exception of the faces, which are painted, are
composed of worked silver set with precious stones of
large size and are particularly fine. They were pre-
sented to the monastery by the Emperor Michael
(Andronicus ?) Palaeologus. First amongst the relics
preserved in this church is a large piece of the Holy
Cross, measuring no less than seven inches in length ;
it is arranged in the form of a double cross.
and is contained in a truly magnificent reliquary. This
splendid case, oblong in shape, measuring 17^x11!
inches, is of gold set with rows of precious stones,
rubies, pearls, emeralds, and enamelled medallions ;
* 'El* (TolrovsfX^P'^^^ f]fio)v KfpaTlov^.tu, Kal ivT^ ovofiari crov (^ov8(vci)<rofiev
rnvs iiravirrrnuivovs fjfilv.
ANCIENT CROSS OF SILVER GILT
169
EHOYAEXoiCOMEXTOYC
EnANICTAMENOYCHMIN
170 MOUNT ATHOS
eight rows one way and twelve the other, making
ninety-six jewels and enamels in all. Four enormous
heart-shaped pearls are disposed amongst the rest
towards the corners ; the two largest measure respec-
tively I J and if of an inch across. This priceless
shrine, well worthy of the precious relic on which the
Christian cannot gaze without emotion, was given by
the Emperor Nicephorus, the patron of St. Athanaslus
and co-founder of the monastery.
Here also are preserved the head of the great St.
Basil and the left hand of St. Chrysostom ; ^ also an
icon of the Holy Child set in a fine enamelled frame,
said to have belonged to the Empress Theodora,
and an icon of St. John the Divine, painted on a com-
position of wax and resin, and mounted in a rich
frame with ten medallions of saints round it ; this
was presented to the monastery by the Emperor John
Zimiskes. In the north-west corner of the paracclesia
of the Forty Martyrs is the tomb of St. Athanasius
the Athonite.
From the catholicon and the tomb of St. Athanasius
we were taken to see the church dedicated to his
honour. Here are preserved two staves and a cross,
all of which belonged to him. The latter is a thick
and solid piece of wood, cut into the shape of a cross
and mounted in silver ; it is attached to a massive iron
collar, and must weigh altogether about five pounds.
The staves are plain iron rods ; one, crutch-topped,
measures 4 feet i^ inch in length ; the other, which ends
in a small cross, is rather larger, 4 feet "/^ inches ; with
this the saint commanded devils.
There is another church in the courtyard near the
' See p. 147.
THE PANACxHIA COUCOUZELTSSA I7I
gate, into which we strolled with our attendant monks.
Seeing an icon in it which, from the offerings sus-
pended from it, I knew to be looked upon as miraculous,
I pointed it out to the company and asked them if this
were not the case. * Malista,' said they, * it is indeed
miraculous ; that is the holy icon of the Panaghia
Coucouzelissa, to whom this church is dedicated.'
' Panaghia what ? ' said I, taken aback by the
strange epithet.
* Coucouzelissa,' replied the monks.
* Oh, indeed ! ' said I. ' Well, how did it get that
extraordinary name : '
* That was the holy icon,' said a monastic spokes-
man, * before which the great John Coucouzele ^ used
to sinof.'
* And who was he ? '
* What ! ' replied the monks in the greatest asto-
nishment ; * what, not know John Coucouzele ! '
* No,' said I with great diffidence, for the good
monks looked at me so reproachfully. * Pm quite
ashamed of my ignorance : of course I ought to know
all about him ; but I really never heard of him before.'
* Well,' quoth the chief spokesman in a compas-
sionate tone, ' I will tell you the story. This holy
man was the chief singer at the emperor's palace at
Constantinople.'
' When .? ' asked O— .
The good monk looked slightly put out at this in-
terruption, and some conversation ensued amongst the
brethren, all of course speaking at once, which ended
in the reply that they didn't know — how should they ? —
and nobody knew, but that it was certainly a very, very
* Pronounced as if it were written in English Coocoozdylee.
1/2 MOUNT ATHOS
long time ago, palia ! palia ! and that the date was of
no consequence whatever to the story. So the narra-
tive proceeded.
' As I was saying, Coucouzele was the chief singer
to the great emperor, for he had a very beautiful voice.
Now one day he was singing a canon before the holy
icon of the Panaghia in the chapel of the palace, when
the icon spoke and said, 'You do very well, John
Coucouzele, in singing before my picture ; sing on, John
Coucouzele, and here is a medal for you ; ' and lo ! the
hand of the icon moved towards John and dropped
into his palm a coin, with which the singer worked
many miracles, and when he died he was numbered
amongst the saints.'
* But,' said I, * how did the picture come here ? You
say that the miracle took place at Constantinople. Did
John Cou-cou-cou — *
' Zele,' said Angelos, prompting me.
' Yes, Coucouzele. Did he bring it here himself }
What has he to do with the Agion Oros ? '
Nobody knew much about this point, but the ma-
jority thought that he did come to the Holy Mountain
with his picture ; at any rate there was the picture, and
what did it matter how it got there ? O — asked if they
had the wonderful coin, but the monks said no, that was
a great pity, but unfortunately the coin had been lost.
Nothing more could be got out of the monks re-
specting the saint and his wonderful picture, and on
my return to England I completely failed to find any
mention of him in any book until one day I was turning
over the leaves of a musical primer given to me at the
convent of St. Gregory, when to my great joy I dis-
covered at the end of the book ' The Story of the Life
STORY OF JOHN COUCOUZELE IJQ
of the Great Master of the Musical Art, Mr. John
Coucouzele,' ^ which occupies four closely printed
pages. As this quaint account differs somewhat from
that of the monks, at the risk of wearying my readers
I will give a short version of it.
* Come hither,' so the story begins, ' come hither,
all ye people of the Priests, and listen, all ye of the
Rulers, come, and I will tell you things concerning the
life of John, surnamed the Coucouzele.' Then it goes
on to tell us how John was born in Dyrrachium * of the
first of Justinian' (r-rjs Tr/awrry? Trjq ^lovcrTLViavrjs) — that is,
in the ancient diocese of Justiniana prima,^ the modern
Durazzo, in Albania, on the coast of the Adriatic. No
clue is given to the century in which he lived, but it is
said that, his father having died, his mother sent him
to be educated in religion. Now John, having a very
beautiful voice, obtained admission to the imperial
school, for such boys as showed promise were educated
at the expense of the emperor. Here he surpassed his
fellows in knowledge of the musical art and in singing,
so that he became the wonder of all that knew him.
One day his schoolfellows asked him what he was going
to have for dinner, and he, being a poor provincial who
only knew the Greek of Dyrrachium, like Chaucer's
Prioresse, who spoke French
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe,
replied * Coukia and zelia ' [KovKia kol ^eXta) ; whence
the boys nicknamed him * Coucouzele.' At last it
came to the ears of the emperor that Coucouzele
^ AiTjyrjais (Is rov ^lov tov MfyoXou Matfrropoi Ttjs Movaiic^r T(\vrjs Kvpiov
^Icodvvov rov KovKov(eKov.
^ Concerning this diocese, see Bingham, Aniiquities of the Christian
Churchy book ix. chap. iv. sec. xii.
174 MOUNT ATIIOS
was a prodigy of musical learning ; at which he was
delighted, and when he had heard him sing he loved
him, and as a proof of his regard — compelled him to
m,arry ! Poor John seems to have been exceedingly-
dubious as to the bliss of matrimony, and answered, * I
pray and beseech your Majesty give me leave to go
home to see my mother, and then the will of God and
the Emperor be done.'
Here the story becomes very obscure. John goes
home and finds his mother weeping .and lamenting ;
why, is not clear, for, as she too speaks the Greek of
Dyrrachium, the cause of all her woe is unintelligible.
However, for the benefit of the curious, I will give her
words :
with the assurance that they need not take the
trouble of looking them out in a lexicon. ' I am here,'
cries John, and then they fall upon each other's necks
and there is great rejoicing. After several days Cou-
couzele returns to the Emperor, who makes liim a great
feast. But John cannot get out of his head those words
of his mother, and on thinking over things resolves to
become a monk. Now the abbot, or hegoumenos, of the
Lavra happened to be in Constantinople on business,
and when he left to return to the Holy Mountain,
Coucouzele put on old clothes, and taking a staff
followed him at a distance, having escaped apparently
from the impending marriage, for we hear nothing more
about the wife. When he arrived at Athos he watched
the abbot safely into the Lavra, and then went up to
the door and sat down under the porch. In answer
to the questions of the porter he said that he was very
anxious to be a monk, and that if he were admitted
STORY OF JOHN COUCOUZELE 1 75
he would work hard, for he knew how to tend goats.
Fortunately for Coucouzele the monastery was in great
need of a goatherd, so away runs the porter to the
abbot and tells him that there is a goatherd sitting
at the gate who craves admission to the order of the
monks. The abbot was overcome with joy at the god-
send, and bade the porter bring Coucouzele into the
Lavra. So our friend John attained his object, and
after having been instructed in religion by the hegoume-
nos was sent to watch over the flocks on the mountain.
Meanwhile the Emperor at Constantinople cannot
make out what has become of his musician, and searches
for him throughout the length and breadth of the
empire, but no Coucouzele is to be found.
But one day our friend goes out as usual to tend
his flock, and is suddenly seized with a violent desire
to sing a psalm ; so he looks this way and that, and
seeing no one, he breaks forth into one of the ancient
melodies of the Church. He was sitting on the top
of a high rock, whence he could see a long distance,
but, as ill luck would have it, a hermit dwelt in a
cave just below him. This old fellow, roused by
the ravishing strains which proceeded from the rock
above him, thought he heard an angel singing, but on
coming out of his cave and looking up he saw the
goatherd carolling on his rocky perch, and the goats
not straying, but listening, as if spell-bound, to the
entrancing music. Coucouzele's fame seems to have
reached the hermit, for he immediately made up his
mind that this wonderful singer could be no other than
he for whom the Emperor had been searching far and
wide, so he rushed off to the hegoumenos of the Lavra
and brought him to the spot. The abbot taxes Cou-
I 76 MOUNT ATIIOS
couzele with his identity, which the goatherd is forced
to acknowledge, and the end of the matter is that the
hegoumenos himself goes to Constantinople and obtains
from the Emperor permission for Coucouzele to remain
as a monk at Athos. The Emperor accompanies the
hegoumenos back to the Lavra, spends a few pleasant
days on a visit to Coucouzele, and then returns to his
capital. After this John devotes himself in earnest to
the monastic life, and at last employs his whole time,
night and day, in nothing else but singing psalms and
praying.
Now comes the story of the picture. One day
during Lent, having been singing, as his custom was,
the praises of the Theotocos, after completing his vigil
he fell asleep as he stood, when the Theotocos appeared
and gave him a gold coin, saying, ' Sing to me, and I
will never leave you.* Coucouzele awoke, found the
coin in his right hand, and, weeping tears of joy, burst
forth in a hymn to the Mother of God. He placed
the coin in the church, where it did many wonders,
and he himself from that time forward never left the
church, but remained standing in it, so that one of his
feet mortified and his hand melted away until the
marrow from it dropped to the ground. But the
Theotocos cured him, saying, 'From henceforth be
thou healed.' And so he remained till the day of his
death, blessing the Mother of God in hymns and
spiritual songs. Moreover this man of God foresaw
his death, and made preparation for it, desiring to be
buried in the Church of the Archangel, which he had
built. Early one morning he departs.
' This is the life of the great Master of Music
and Melody, John the Coucouzele, the second John of
DOUBTFUL LEGENDS I 77
Damascus, whose foot the Theotocos healed and to
whom she gave the coin ; ' so the legend ends with a
rhapsody about well-tuned cymbals and loud cymbals,
strings and pipes, and the divine David, winding up
with a doxology and et? tov<s alwva'i row aloivoiv afxijv.
This seems to be the proper place to discuss the
questions which naturally arise in the minds of Western
and especially of English travellers. What are we to
think of these legends ? What attitude are we to take
up with regard to them ?
Let us take, for instance, the story of John Coucou-
zele. It seems clear that there is a mistake somewhere.
It is 2/ery improbable, though not impossible, that Our
Lady should have given him that coin or medal, the
reward of his devotion to her. This episode at least
appears to bear the impress of the fabulous. And, again,
in the legend of the Gorgoypecoos at Docheiariou it is
almost incredible that the Blessed Virgin should have
made the apparently senseless remark that is attributed
to her, those words which are the very foundation of
the whole story. Are we, then, to reject altogether
legends and miracles such as these ?
As a preliminary consideration, I think we may
admit that the Greeks are peculiarly given to cre-
dulity and superstition, as we Englishmen are prone to
unsupernaturalism and scepticism, and also that the
virtues of the former are the evangelical virtues — faith,
obedience to ecclesiastical authority, and reverence : of
the latter, the natural virtues — truthfulness, honesty,
and a certain moral integrity, which may, perhaps, be
best expressed by the word uprightness. The tendency
of a Greek is to believe implicitly any supernatural
story, however great the demand it makes upon his
N
178 MOUNT ATHOS
faith, however absurd it is in its details ; the ordinary
EngHshman, on the contrary, is hkely to reject as super-
stitious the story of any Divine interference, however
trifling, with what he calls the Law of Nature.
The true position lies somewhere between the two
extremes, and to reach this mean I would urge the old
philosopher's advice on both Greeks and Anglicans,
' Resist your natural tendency and lean towards the
opposite extreme,' in the case of an alleged miracle
advising the Eastern (maintaining all due respect for
authority) to question before believing, and the Western
(without abandoning his love of truth) to believe before
questioning. A few words will, I trust, not be thought
out of place in consideration of the line a faithful
English Churchman ought to take with respect to
ecclesiastical miracles and relics in the case of —
a. One known to be false ;
b. One probably false ;
c. A doubtful miracle upon which no additional
light can be thrown.
a. As an example of the first, let us take the alleged
miracle of the holy fire at Jerusalem. An English
traveller visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on
Easter Day. He sees the fire brought out of the
Sepulchre, and knows that it has just been kindled
by the Patriarch, and yet sees the enthusiasm of the
populace, who believe it to have been sent down from
heaven. What is he to do ? Clearly he is not bound
to treat the circumstance with respect as a Divine
interposition, as he knows that the Patriarch himself
would admit that the popular belief was false. Is he,
then, to address the people and to endeavour to dissuade
them from treating the fire as miraculous ? Surely not.
DOUBTFUL LEGENDS I 79
because not being in authority he has no responsibility
in the matter, and would be even totally unable to
rectify the popular error ; for the poor people would
look upon him very much in the light of a heretic, to
whom no credence could be given. Secondly, we are
apt to exaggerate the importance of errors such as
these. Faith in our Lord and in the doctrines of His
Church, coupled with the fruit of good works, will save
a man, but the mere knowledge of the truth or falsity
of a miraculous story is a matter of curiosity, and not
of spiritual life or death. Therefore the exposition of
the falsity of the holy fire is not of such importance as
to warrant the interference of a Western stranger, who
by rooting up this tare is in great danger of pulling up
with it the wheat of their respect for religious authority
— nay, even of their saving faith — so that the last state
shall be worse than the first. If this weed is to be
removed at all, it must be done by the tender hands of
those labourers who have been called to work in this
vineyard of the Lord,* not crushed by the rude foot of
the trespasser. Still there is a certain course open to
us, which indeed amounts to a duty, and that is to
make use of any opportunities that may be afforded
us of privately remonstrating with the ecclesiastical
authorities and representing to them the mischief
such a proceeding causes to the whole Christian
world.
b. To illustrate this let us consider the proper
attitude with regard to the relic of the gold, incense,
and myrrh of the Magi, some of which is said to exist
at the Monastery of St Paul. This on calm reflection
all must admit to be an extremely doubtful relic, and
yet we cannot prove its falsity or deny the possibility
N2
l80 MOUNT ATHOS *
of God having ordained that these holy gifts should
have been piously preserved to be a source of edifica-
tion to His faithful servants throughout these centuries.
I stand before this relic at St. Paul's, and the Church
of the country, whose jurisdiction I recognise, says to
me in the person of the abbot, ' These are the gifts of
the Three Kings.' Have I a right to refuse reverence
to them, and thus scandalize those who, being con-
vinced of their authenticity, will look upon my action
as a dishonour of holy things ? Surely charity forbids
such a course.
c. Lastly, in the case of a miracle or relic which
hangs in the balance, and there is no sufficient evidence
obtainable to cause this or that scale to turn ; as is
usual with the majority of relics, the chain of evidence
having been broken in the course of long years : here,
it is clear, we must accept the ruling of the Church
and throw our responsibility upon her. On the other
hand, if we were in a position of authority we should
never encourage a devotion to a doubtful relic or
miracle ; still, if people really believed in it, and it were
impossible to disprove it, we should have no right to
quarrel with them or to forbid what was generally
credited through motives of piety.
To conclude : All miracles and stories of the
supernatural must fall under one of these three
heads :
1. True.
2. False.
3. Partly true, partly false.
Under the last we are probably justified in placing
such a story as that of John Coucouzele. What is
untrue in such cases we may ascribe to three causes —
DOUBTFUL LEGENDS l8l
1. Exaggeration and accretion in the course of
ages;
2. Excess of faith in attributing all wonderful
things to the direct interposition of the Deity ; ^
3. Absolute falsehood.
The last is, of course, responsible also for those
miracles under the second category. And in the case
of these it is not the poor people who accept them, or
their rulers, who in good faith ratify them, that deserve
contempt or blame ; but those bad men who for private
ends, through pride and covetousness, carried away by
the snares of the arch-deceiver, have invented these
tales, imposed upon Christ's little flock, and worked a
wrong which still cries against them, it may be for
centuries after they have crumbled away in the tomb.
Verily they have their reward.
' This excess seems nearer to the mean than the denial to Him of all
interference in the natural government of the world He has created.
152 MOUNT ATHOS
CHAPTER XII.
I never read of a hermit, but in imagination I kiss his feet ; never of
a monastery, but I could fall on my knees and kiss the pavement.
Dr. Samuel Johnson.
Movop TTpos jiouou Qeov yevea-dai.—VLOTlN .
The library of the Lavra is kept in a building situated
in the middle of the court, so as to be completely
isolated in case of fire, and the books are well cared
for ; altogether we felt obliged to commend the monks
for having of late years appreciated the value of their
books. The inhabitants of Mount Athos have not
yet got beyond a recognition of the value of their
literary treasures ; nobody seems to take any interest in
them, and except at Vatopedi and Russico I could not
discover that it even entered anybody's head to read
the books.
The following are some of the principal manuscripts ;
the librarian being away and no one else knowing any-
thing about the contents of the library, we had to take
the books down at random, judging of them by their
backs, and thus some important ones may have escaped
us, for we had not time to go through the library sys-
tematically :
An evangel istarium in uncial characters, once a
fine manuscript but now much damaged ; this is not
the uncial evangelistarium mentioned by Curzon.
Another fine copy (quarto) of the Holy Gospels, in a
THE LAVRA LIBRARY 183
curious binding of crimson silk, covered with elaborate
patterns in silver thread ; it has two clasps in front and
one top and bottom, making four in all, composed of
plaited leather with brass mounts ; it contains illumi-
nations of the Four Evangelists. Another beautiful
evangelistarium, a folio in good preservation, written
in parallel columns with fine miniatures ; at the end of
this book, on the last two pages, is an inscription in a
large sprawling hand which says that it was presented
by the Empress Irene.^ We found one palimpsest.
There were no early manuscripts of the liturgies
that we could discover, and we were ever on the watch
for them. All the manuscripts of the liturgies that we
saw at Athos were of the same date — fourteenth or
fifteenth century, I think. They are always written on
rolls of great length.
The refectory is in its usual position, i.e. on the
opposite side of the court, in front of the west door of
the catholicon ; it is about the same size as the refectory
at Vatopedi ; like it the interior walls are covered with
frescoes, and it contains twenty-three marble tables.
This evening (Saturday, August j) Michael, ex-
Metropolitan of Belgrade and Primate of Servia,
arrived at the monastery. He. was a clean-looking,
well-bred old man, with a gentle face and silky beard,
and did not look at all like a man who had recently
mixed himself up with political intrigues to the extent
of defying his sovereign. Into the history and the
rights and wrongs of this dispute I will not take my
readers ; suffice it to say that, King Milan subjecting
himself and his infant kingdom to Austrian instead
of Russian influence, the Primate and bishops of Servia,
* Irene governed the Empire of the East from 797 to 802.
184 MOUNT ATHOS
fearing the consequences of a Latin instead of an
Orthodox ally, violently opposed the King, who finally
deposed the whole bench with a stroke of his pen and
obtained fresh prelates from the Orthodox Church in
the Austrian dominions. The Patriarch of Constanti-
nople did not suffer himself to be drawn mto the
quarrel, and simply recognised the new bishops without
condemning the old ; and thus it was that Michael was
wandering about the East in exile, waiting for a turn of
Fortune's wheel to throw him up again into his metro-
political throne. How far he had acted from purely
religious in opposition to political motives, and whether
or not he was a mere puppet in the hands of intriguing
Russia, I am not sufficiently well acquainted with the
quarrel to say, but will merely repeat that his manner
and appearance impressed us favourably. A monk
from the Servian Monastery of Chiliandari had been
deputed to act as his chaplain and attendant during
his sojourn on the Holy Mountain : he was possessed
of a most wonderful head of hair, which stood out
like a thatch all round. We all had supper together,
and the conversation turned entirely on the English
Church and the unity of Christendom. Our theo-
logical remarks had first to be translated into Greek
by Angelos to the Servian monk, and then from Greek
into Slavonic by the monk to Michael ; so what they
were like by the time they reached the latter I shudder
to think.
We afterwards found that the ex-Primate under-
stood French, so we might have spared ourselves and
him a great deal of trouble. Our discussion lasted
till a late hour, and as we rose to separate our Arch-
bishop, as we always called him (for we had become
AN ENGLISH EUCHARIST 1 85
such great friends that we looked upon him quite
as one of ourselves) turned to O — and inquired
whether he proposed to celebrate the Eucharist on
the morrow, as it was Sunday. O — replied in the
affirmative, and the Servian prelate immediately ex-
pressed a wish to be present.
The next morning we rose before seven o'clock,
and found that the Archbishop of Cavalla had been up
two good hours already, and had been looking after
the arrangement of a temporary altar in the large
chamber adjacent to our sleeping-room. The monks
had procured an Old and a New Testament, for which
I had asked the night before, so that the archbishops
might follow the Scriptural portion of our services.
Our hosts had unearthed them from the library, and
they proved to be two immense folios which required a
desk to sustain them. By the time I had found all
the places and marked them with slips of paper I dis-
covered that the room — a very large one — was as full as
it would hold of monks. The morning was already
hot, and the atmosphere of our temporary chapel con-
sequently stifling. O — wished the Archbishop to
dismiss the greater part of the assembly ; but the monks
begged hard to be allowed to be present, and suggested
that the altar might be moved outside to a sort of
gallery which runs round the side of the monastery on
the first floor, open to the air on the courtyard side by
reason of an arcade. So this was done, and seats for
the archbishops and a desk for the great books were
placed on the north side of the altar, whilst all the rest
stood behind on the west of it. O — had resolved to
say the daily service before celebrating the Eucharist,
because the Greeks invariably have long offices before
I 86 MOUNT ATHOS
the liturgy, and as of course he would have to say his
offices either publicly or privately, it seemed advisable
to follow the Greek, and, indeed, a very general
English custom, of amalgamating the whole.
I cannot tell how many were present at the service ;
certainly a great number, composed of monks, hermits,
pilgrims, and here and there amongst the sombre
crowd a white fustinella peeped out, denoting the pre
sence of a muleteer or other lay servant. The whole
gallery was full to the very end, and some were even
standing on the parapet and on the sills of the windows
which opened on to the passage. Before the service
began, our Archbishop, at O — 's request, came to our
room (which we used as a vestry) and gave him his
blessing. Mattins was said, without note, then the
litany, the archbishops following the psalms and lessons
in the big folios, and then, with as little interruption as
possible, O — commenced the Eucharist. At the con-
clusion of the prayer of humble access the archbishops
rose from their seats and there occurred a slight con-
fusion, caused by the monks in front passing word to
some of those behind, who, owing to the press, had sat
down on the parapet, that all were to stand ; but it
almost instantly subsided and the service proceeded.
As we knelt before the rude altar in the early
morning under the bright and sunny Eastern sky, the
familiar English rites and English words in that strange
land, and the English priest pleading the One adorable
Sacrifice in the presence of that weird and old-world
company, all seemed to me inexpressibly solemn ; for
were not the blessed angels now with us, and around
our humble table, the same that had veiled their faces
for centuries before the Holy Mysteries in the ancient
THE LAVRA PHIALE 187
church in the court below, and were they not joining us
in our cry, ' O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins
of the world, grant us Thy peace ' ? Yet sad it was
that we, children of One Father, could not join to-
gether in the same Eucharistic feast, because there is
still that mountain between us, cast up by pride and
misunderstanding, by arrogance and schism, that lofty
barrier never to be removed until the Voice shall say,
' Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea.'
* Remember not. Lord, our offences, nor the offences
of our forefathers ; spare Thy people, whom Thou hast
redeemed with Thy most precious blood, and be not
angry with us for ever.'
' Be not angry with us for ever! ' May God hasten
the time of our separation, and may He again unite
His Holy Catholic Church to be glorious and triumph-
ant over the powers of darkness which are brooding
so ominously over the world ! * Spare us, good Lord,
and be not angry with us for ever ! '
After breakfast the Servian archbishop departed
for Caracalla. We took two photographs of the inte-
rior of the Lavra, one of them showing the west end
of the catholicon with the phiale and a group of
monks standing about it.
The marble basin, which measures 7 feet 8 inches
in diameter, is carved with its pedestal out of one
block of white marble. It contains a real fountain of
gilt metal, of which the monks were very proud and
insisted upon making it play during the taking of the
photograph. I made one of the monks fetch a hand
semantron and put on the cloak which they use when
performing any distinct official act connected with
Divine service. This cloak is of thin black material,
1 88 MOUNT ATHOS
gathered at the neck ; descending thence in pleats, it
sweeps the ground behind to the length of about four
inches, being somewhat shorter in front. On the oppo-
site page is an engraving copied from the photograph.
The monk is represented in the act of striking the
semantron with the mallet, and the position is exceed-
ingly natural. The columns and carved parapet of
the fountain are of white marble. The boughs which
overshadow it on either side belong to two ancient
cypresses of great size, said to have been planted by
St. Athanasius, the founder, in the tenth century. The
trunk of the largest measures fourteen feet in circumfe-
rence just above the ground, before it begins to spread.
Towards evening I went to the little port and took
a photograph of the castle, and returning sat down in
the pretty lane to enjoy the stillness of the evening.
Meanwhile O — had been talking to the Archbishop
of Cavalla about our English difficulties, and as I
joined them in the monastery they had just got on
to the subject of that unpleasant young woman, the
Deceased Wife's Sister.
' Of course,' said the Archbishop, ' it is a most mon-
strous proposal to allow a man to marry his wife's
sister, and your Church is deserving of the sympathy
of all Christians in the struggle upon which she is en-
gaged. We are still more strict than you, prohibiting
all marriages within the sixth degree of relationship.'
Then he proceeded to tell us a rather funny story
of a marriage case that had lately occurred in his
diocese.
A young man fell in love with a young woman of
the same village, but unfortunately his sweetheart was
some sort of a distant cousin to him, within the pro-
A LOVE STORY 1 8;^
hibited degrees, and therefore no priest would marry
them. They appealed in vain to the Archbishop,
who told them that the Church knew of no dispen-
sations, and that therefore they must make up their
minds that the marriage was impossible. * But,' said
the Archbishop to us, 'they were a most obstinate
couple ; for the space of four years did they pester
me to allow them to be married, coming out to meet
me as I made my yearly visitation of the village,
and hanging with tears and supplications on my
horse's bridle. Altogether it was very embarrassing.
But this was not the worst, for in their despair they
tried to make away with themselves, and so determined
were they that on four several occasions the man threw
himself into the sea, but was happily observed and
dragged out before life was extinct, and three times
the girl tried to poison herself, but she also was res-
cued from suicide. At last the young man's father,
who was a priest, took compassion on them and mar-
ried them.'
* Well,' said we, ' and what did you do ? '
* I suspended the priest for three months,' said the
Archbishop, ' and I excommunicated the couple.'
* And are they still excommunicate ? '
* Yes,' replied the Archbishop, * they are, and have
been so for the last two years, ever since they de-
fied the authority of the Church. They never cease
imploring me to remove the sentence, and when I
go back perhaps I shall do so. You see it was a
difficult case.'
The Archbishop told this pitiful tale with much
hilarity, evidently quite appreciating its comic side.
But after all it was no joke for the unfortunate couple,
I go MOUNT ATHOS
who were undergoing all the spiritual and temporal
disadvantages connected with their punishment in their
remote village, whilst we were laughing over their
misfortunes on a comfortable divan at Mount Athos.
Still they were lucky in being under the jurisdiction of
a prelate who seemed disposed to take a merciful view
of the case, and look upon their offence as a sort of
youthful folly; otherwise, in a Church which still re-
tains her ancient discipline, such a flagrant act of dis-
obedience to her laws might have met with a far
heavier and more lasting penalty.
We supped this evening chiefly on large black
snails. Half the fortnight's fast was now over, and we
began to look forward to the improvement in our fare
which the festival of the Assumption would bring ; for
then the monks would go out fishing again, and pro-
vide the table with something more delectable than
these slimy creatures.
We had intended to make the ascent of Athos the
next morning, but the weather proved too stormy ;
showers fell at intervals during the day, whilst thick
clouds enveloped the summit of the mountain. A
monk was brought to see us who spoke English, and
very fairly too ; he had been a sailor on both English
and American ships, and knew the principal ports of
both countries. Now he had retired to end his days
in peace on the Agion Oros. He was between forty
and fifty years of age. This was by no means the
only instance we came across of English-speaking
sailors who had left the sea, sometimes in the prime of
life, to find a monastic home on these peaceful shores.
What a change from the rude and bustling life before
the mast on board an English ship to the life of retire-
QUIETISM 191
ment and prayer on the quiet slopes of the Holy
Mountain ! Very few of the Athos monks have been
brought up to the monastic Hfe ; the majority of them
have embraced it after a longer or shorter experience of
those delights which the world can offer. My readers
will ask what it is that thus attracts them. I think
there are two prominent motives, and first comes the
wish to save their souls. The life of a consistent
monk is looked upon as a sure passport to the hea-
venly country, and the Paradise of the Mother of
God ^ is considered to be the best place for fostering
monastic virtues. This I believe to be the paramount
consideration which weighs with these men. Secondly,
there is that love of rest and quietness — call it idleness,
energetic Western, if you will — that is the lodestar of
the Oriental mind.
Now, whilst I am fully alive to the evils of Quietism,
it appears to me that in our England of the nineteenth
century we are in danger of underrating the value of
the contemplative life. In modern Europe we live so
fast, there is so much to be doneev^ry day of our lives,
that we are apt to give up thinking altogether, except
so far as it aids us directly in our work. And yet
both Christian and pagan philosophers have looked
upon the contemplative life as the highest life possible
to man ; for the nearer we approach to pure contem-
plation, the nearer we are to that life which is to be
our highest reward hereafter, in which our supreme
happiness will consist in the contemplation of the
attributes of the Deity. Of course it may be validly
urged that so long as man is in the world there is
' Athos is called 'O Yiapdbfurui t^s QforoKov on account of the frequent
appearances of the Blessed Virgin to its inhabitants.
192 MOUNT ATHOS
definite work for him to do therein, that he is put into
it to act as well as to meditate, and this is the true
answer to the Quietist. Still, as we may not give our
lives to mere contemplation (for even monks perform
manual labour and devote themselves to prayer, which
according to the Christian doctrine is a mighty work
and does more good to the world than any art or
science),^ so if we occupy ourselves entirely with
actual labour we shall proportionately lose by thus
cultivating only one part, and that not the highest, of
our nature.
And this truth forces itself most vividly upon a
man when, restless, busy Europe being left behind,
he finds himself on the peaceful shores of the Holy
Mountain. It is as if he had been navigating some
mighty river, and having battled long against the
rushing current, the whirling eddies, and the hissing
water, had just turned some projecting point of land
and shot at once into a little tranquil pool, where the
still waters scarcely moved the rushes and the tiny
wavelets hardly rippled on the bank. For here on
this hallowed ground, trodden for centuries by the feet
of saints and men of God, all seems to breathe tran-
quillity and peace ; there is no hurrying to and fro, no
business, no labours beyond what is necessary to till
the fruitful earth, to ply the net in the teeming waters,
and that labour of love the offering up of prayer and
praise to the Divine Creator of all the matchless
' A hermit on his knees is surely benefiting his fellow-men at least
as much as an astronomer peeping through his telescope ; yet how differ-
ently are the two judged by the world ! Not that the pursuit of purely
speculative science is to be condemned. The attempt to fathom the pur-
poses of God, and to make ourselves masters of His secrets, is probably
quite lawful, provided all is done for the advancement of His glory, and
only the legitimate result of the reason with which He has furnished us.
THE UNCREATED LIGHT 1 93
beauty of rock and tree, of sea and mountain, that
enchants the eye at every turn on this most favoured
spot. Fascinating surely is this picture even to an
EngHsh mind ; what wonder if it prove an irresistible
allurement to the impressionable Oriental ?
Of the abuse of the contemplative life no better
example can be found than that of the celebrated con-
troversy concerning the Uncreated Light, which arose
in consequence of the practices of the Quietists of
Mount Athos in the fourteenth century.
A certain abbot of a monastery at Constantinople,
whose name was Simeon and who lived in the ele-
venth century, was the author of all the mischief.
Following instructions which he had laid down, certain
of the monks of Athos devoted themselves wholly to
contemplation, and maintained that by this means,
after long fasting and prayer, with their heads bent
down upon their breasts and their eyes looking into
their stomachs, they saw within their bodies a wonder-
ful light, which was the light which shone at our Lord's
Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and they further
asserted that the light which appeared on the Mount
of Transfiguration was not a created but an uncreated
light. I will give Simeon's instructions in full,^ al-
though I do not pretend to thoroughly understand them.
When thou art alone in thy cell, shut the door and seat thyself
in a corner ; raise thy spirit f^r above all vain and transitory things ;
then rest thy beard on thy belly, turn the eyes with all possible con-
centration of thought towards the middle of thy stomach — that is to
say, towards the navel— then holding thy breath and taking no respi-
ration either through the mouth or the nose, search thy entrails for
the place of the heart, which is the seat of all the powers of the soul.
' See Fleury, Hist. Eccl. 95,9; also Gibbon, Dec. 0/ Rom. Etnp
chap. Ixiii.
194 MOUNT ATHOS
At first thou wilt find there nought but thick shadows and darkness
hard to dispel, but if thou dost persevere, continuing this practice
night and day, thou wilt find a marvellous thing, a joy without
interruption, for as soon as the spirit has found the seat of the heart
it will see that which it has never known before ; it will see the air
which is in the heart, and it will see itself, luminous and easy of
discernment.
Now a certain monk of Calabria, Barlanm by name,^
happened to be on a visit to the Holy Mountain in
the year 1341, and during his stay heard the story of
the liLrht which the monks saw in their stomachs.
Barlaam, being a profound theologian as well as a
philosopher, tried to laugh the monks out of their con-
ceit, saying first of all that he did not believe they saw
any light at all in their stomachs ; secondly, that, even if
they did, it had nothing whatever to do with the light
on Mount Tabor ; lastly, that the light of the Trans-
fio^uration itself was not an uncreated but a created
light ; wherefore he solemnly warned them to desist
from such follies, which were nothing else but the
revival of the old Massalian heresy. He ended by
nicknaming them 6[x(f)a\6xljv)(OL, ' the navel-souled ones.'
The monks were furious at being called heretics, and
found a champion in a certain Gregory Palamas (a
^ Barlaam was sent by the Emperor Andronicus in 1339 on a fruitless
embassy to Pope Benedict XII. to suggest a basis for the union of the
Eastern and Western Churches. He was tutor to Petrarch and to Boc-
caccio, and by the influence of the former, after having conformed to the
Latin Church, he was promoted to the bishopric of Hieracium, in Calabria.
Gibbon says of him, ' Barlaam was the first who revived, beyond the
Alps, the memory, or at least the writings, of Homer. He is described
by Petrarch and Boccace as a man of a diminutive stature, though truly
great in the measure of learning and genius ; of a piercing discernment,
though of a slow and painful elocution. For many ages, as they affirm,
Greece had not produced his equal in the knowledge of history, grammar,
and philosophy ; and his merit was celebrated in the attestations of the
princes and doctors of Constantinople.' {kom. Einp. chap. Ixvi.)
THE UNCREATED LIGHT 1 95
monk of Mount Athos who afterwards became Arch-
bishop of Thessalonica). Gregory defended the mon-
astic theory by maintaining that the essence of the
Deity was distinct from His effluence or operation,
that the latter was eternal and uncreated, and that the
lieht which shone on the Mount of Transfiguration
fc) ■->
was this uncreated effluence, though not the substance
of the Deity. Barlaam appealed to Constantinople,
and, after no less than four councils had been held, he
was finally condemned and the doctrine of the Uncreated
Light was declared to be a Christian verity. This took
place in 1351. The Eastern Church, however, was
almost torn to pieces by the violence of the controversy,
which lasted for nearly a hundred years before the
matter finally dropped ; but long before this Gregory
Palamas had been honoured with a commemoration in
the services for the Second Sunday in Lent, and the
opinions of Barlaam had been added to those heresies
which are solemnly anathematized on the First Sunday
in Lent, or ' Orthodo^xy Sunday.'
Dr. Neale, in his learned work on the * Holy Eastern
Church,' says that although the controversy has died
away it must not be forgotten ' that the Church
of Constantinople stands pledged by an unrescinded
Council to the absurd and erroneous doctrine of
Palamas. It is true that the movement was as much
a political as a religious one, and may as fitly be named,
as it was named, Cantacuzenism ^ as Palamatism.
Still the office of Gregory Palamas and the anathemas
against Barlaam remain in the Triodion ; these surely
should be removed. At present, however, in the city
and immediate neighbourhood of Constantinople (as I
' The Emperor John Cantacuzenus supported Palamas.
o 2
196 MOUNT ATHOS
am informed), the office is forbidden.' ^ He then ^oes
on to show that the patriarchate of Constantinople is
the only part of the Eastern Church responsible for
the doctrine of the Uncreated Light.
At the risk of being tedious I will close the account
of this curious dispute with the translation of one of
the anathemas read on Orthodoxy Sunday.
To them that think and say that the light which shone from our
Lord in His holy Transfiguration was either an appearance and a
creature, and a vision that appeared for a little time, and was forth-
with dissolved, or else the very essence of God ; as wholly, and to
the loss of their souls, throwing themselves into two contrarieties and
impossibilities, and, on the one side, holding the madness of Arius
(who divided the One Godhead and the One God into things created
and uncreated), and, on the other, carried away with the impiety of
the Massalians (who say that the Divine Substance is visible) ; and
confess not, according to the inspired teaching of the saints and the
pious belief of the Church, that that most Divine light was not a
creature, nor the essence of God, but an uncreated and physical
grace, and forth-shining, and energy, which ever inseparably pro-
ceedeth from the Divine essence itself —
Anathema, Anathema, Anathema.
During our journey we endeavoured to ascertain
whether any traditions of this mighty controversy still
existed in the land of its birth ; but, although we
mentioned the Uncreated Light to the leading monks
at several of the monasteries, no one seemed to know
anything about it, and the name of Barlaam, which
once would have been sufficient to have raised the
fiercest religious enthusiasm, only produced the answer,
' Barlaam ? No, we have never heard of him. Who
^ I verified this at Constantinople last year. Dr. Neale was right ; the
office is not used. My informant, curiously, was the archimandrite
Gregory Palamas, a descendant of the famous author of the theory. The
archimandrite said, ' The Uncreated Light is a true and orthodox belief,
but not a dogma.'
DEPARTURE FROM THE LAVRA 1 97
was he ? ' No monk now expects to see the light of
Mount Tabor in his stomach, and we may hope that
the Church of Constantinople has, so far as lies within
her power, blotted out from her history a page which
contributes not to her glory but to her shame.
At four o'clock in the afternoon we left the Lavra
for the skete of the Prodromos, the epitropoi and prin-
cipal monks accompanying us to the gate. Amongst
the latter was a fine old man with a snowy beard and
a figure which must have been once tall and command-
ing, now bent with age and leaning upon a staff.
This was the archimandrite Benjamin, who had fought
in the Greek war of independence. He had only one
eye, a singularly bright and piercing one ; the other,
over which he wore a black patch, had been lost in
the service of his country in 182 1. This ancient
warrior was eighty-two years of age.
Our path for the first half-hour lay over flat and
stony ground amongst low bushes, consisting of bay,
Turkey oaks, and arbutus. Afterwards we met with
different vegetation, and crossed several beautiful
glens, amidst picturesque rocks and shady trees. At
last, as we rode over the brow of a hill, we suddenly
caught sight of the skete, a regularly built convent of
considerable size, wath the domes of the catholicon
rising above the roof of the buildings. It is situated
on a plateau between the mountain and the sea, half
a mile from the shore, at the elevation of about 700
feet, and belongs to the Roumanians. The monks
were on the look-out for us, and the instant our caval-
cade appeared in sight all the bells began to ring, and
after being received in the usual manner we were
taken up to a beautifully clean room for our glyko and
198 MOUNT ATIIOS
coffee. The dicaios (or hegoumenos, as he is called
inside the skete) was absent, having gone to Bucharest,
so we were received by an old man named Esaias, the
second in command, and a well-bred and not very
elderly monk called David. Esaias was one of the
politest men I have ever met ; at every opportunity he
would place his hand on his breast and bow to us.
He was seventy-three years of age and had never once
tasted meat since he embraced the monastic life at
seventeen ; for, as we were told at supper, which
shortly appeared on the table in coenobite monasteries
they never touch flesh food. Nevertheless our meal
was an excellent one, served on a clean table-cloth,
and almost for the first time on Mount Athos clean
napkins were given to us. Instead of the ordinary
brown and gritty bread the good monks had provided
each of their guests with one of the cakes {Trpo(T(f)opd)
made for Eucharistic use. They are composed of fine
flour, stamped with a cross and the words ' Jesus
Christ conquers ' {'Itjctovs Xpiaro<i viko).
The evening was a stormy one, and Esaias on
looking out of the window remarked, ' Glory to God !
it is going to rain!' and soon the patter of the drops
outside confirmed the old man's forecast. We talked
long and earnestly about unity. ' There is but one
Gospel,' said Esaias ; ' we ought all to be one.'
The monk David gave up his room to O — and
myself. It was positively luxurious — two clean beds,
bright little pictures on the snowy walls, including
photographs of David's friends and relatives, a carpet
on the floor, and certain other luxuries which betokened
the presence of European civilization. Here we did
not think it necessary to put out our levinges, and the
CAVE OF ST. ATHANASIUS 1 99
result justified our expectations, for although a few-
fleas fastened themselves upon O- — in the course of
the night the greater enemy did not take the field.
We had another excellent repast the next morning,
the monks being very good in trying to suit our palates
by the omission of the abominable oil from the dishes.
Afterwards we were taken to see the cave of St.
Athanasius the Athonite. A short walk brought us to
the edge of a lofty cliff, and we descended by a rather
steep path along the face of it to the cave This is
several hundred feet (probably between 400 and 500,
but the distances are deceptive) above the sea, which
here runs into the land and forms a little bay with the
high cliffs on three sides of it. It would be difficult to
choose a more lovely spot for retirement. The cave
has been enlarged by the erection of a small cottage at
its mouth, below vvhich a few terraces keep up enough
earth to form a little garden, in which the hermit (for
one still lives here) grows his herbs and vegetables.
An olive tree or two and a few vines and fig trees,
growing in wild luxuriance under the sheltering cliff,
furnish him with oil and fruit, whilst creeping plants,
and shrubs, and flowers spring up and flourish wherever
there is sufficient earth to cover the rock. Down far
below, at the foot of the cliff, is the tiny bay with the
blue water sparkling in the sunshine, beyond the open
sea. Inside the cave are two little chapels ; the inner,
which is the smaller, was the one used by St. Athana-
sius, and measures six feet three inches across the
iconostasis, five feet four inches from the iconostasis to
the west wall, and only eight feet four inches in its
extreme length from east to west, including both nave
and sanctuary.
200
MOUNT ATHOS
The altar, or holy table, is formed by a little hole
being scooped out of the rock above it ; it measures
three feet in length. Notwithstanding its extreme
minuteness this little chapel is perfect in all its ritual
parts and necessary appliances, having an iconostasis
with the holy door and its curtain in the centre, and a
second door to the north of it, and being also provided
with a stall or two. Besides the chapels the hermit had
two rooms, one of which he used as a sort of kitchen,
( tf" 1 y
_ _ ■ r *' " J_ _
CAVE OF ST. ATHANASIUS, WITH THE HERMIT.
the other as his sleeping and living room. Both were
about seven feet square, and so low that we could only
just stand upright in them ; they were almost destitute
of furniture and domestic utensils. A short time back
there were two hermits living together in this place,
but one died, and a plain wooden cross in front of the
cave marks the spot where he lies. Here he lived,
died, and was buried, and now his brother sits under
his fig tree alone with God on the face of that silent
rock.
ROUMANIAN SKETE OF THE PRODROMOS 20I
It was a difficult place to photograph, as one
naturally could not get far enough away from the
subject ; but at last, at the risk of my neck, I managed
to obtain a tolerable picture of the cave itself with the
hermit standing in his little garden. Of course it con-
veys no idea of its romantic situation. The good man
gave us some grapes and figs, and so, bidding him
adieu, we scrambled back to the top of the cliff and
left him to his solitude.
Returning to the skete, we occupied the remainder
of the day in examining its buildings. The catholicon
was built between 1857 and i860, and has three domes
— one over the sanctuar}^ another (the largest) over
the nave, between the transepts, and a third over the
narthex. There are no divisions behind the iconostasis,
but bema, chapel of the prothesis, and diaconicon form
as it were one large room. The narthex too is only
divided from the nave by an archway and two pillars.
The pronaos extends on either side of the church for
some distance beyond the north and south walls of the
nave.^ There is nothing of interest in the church
beyond a very beautiful picture of the Virgin with the
Holy Child in her arms, which, I think, was on the
north-east pillar which supports the central dome.
Many offerings were suspended round it ; for monks
and pilgrims had vied with each other in decking
the picture of the fairest among women, and had made
her cheeks comely with rows of jewels and her neck with
^ The measurements are as follows : Sanctuary, from north to south,
26i feet ; across chord of apse, 13^ feet ; from iconostasis to end of east
apse, 20 feet. Nave, across transepts, 40 feet ; from iconostasis to
narthex, 36 feet. From this point to the west end of the narthex is 21
feet, and as the narthex is not architecturally divided from the nave it
may be counted as part of it, which will make the total length of the nave
57 feet.
202 MOUNT ATHOS
chains of gold. This was pointed out to us as being
a miraculous icon. ' But,' said we, ' it looks like a
modern picture.' ' So it is,' replied Esaias ; * it was
painted in the year i860. Moreover we have often
tried to take a copy of it, for many people in Roumania
would like to see it, but we cannot manage to do it.'
Here at last was a miracle of our own time, and, eager
to hear the story from the lips of one who was ac-
quainted with all the circumstances and who appeared
to be a man of true piety, we begged old Esaias to
proceed. And this was the story he told.
This Roumanian skete was founded in the year 1853
by a few monks, of whom Esaias himself was one.
Now when the church was built, seven years later, the
dicaios, or hegoumenos, was anxious to obtain some
celebrated icon to place within it, and so he searched
through the length and breadth of the Orthodox
Church to find one that he could buy. But, as might
have been expected, no monastery could be found
willing to part with one ; so the hegoumenos gave up
the idea in despair. He went, therefore, to his native
country, Roumania, and commissioned the best artist
he could find — an old monk — to paint him an icon for
the new church on the Holy Mountain. The monk
commenced his work, but before he had proceeded far
he came to the hegoumenos and told him that he
was afraid he should have to give it up, because
his hand trembled so much through age and infirmity ;
• for,' said he, ' I shall never be able to do justice to
such a subject.'
' Well,' replied the abbot, ' you can but do your
best, and then God will excuse all shortcomings.
Nevertheless, my son, this shaking of your hand may
A MIRACULOUS PICTURE 203
be the result of your sins : go therefore to the church
and there recite the canon ; pray to God to help you,
and then go back and finish the picture.'
The old man did as he was advised. Covering up
the picture, he went to the church and prayed. When
his devotions were finished he returned to his easel
and lifted off from the face of the icon the handker-
chief which covered it. The picture had been painted
by the angels.
204 MOUNT ATHOS
CHAPTER XIII.
And there is another Hille, that is clept Athos, that is so highe, that
the Schadewe of hym rechethe to Lempne, that is an He ; and it is 76
Myle betwene. And aboven at the cop of the Hille is the Eir so cleer, that
Men may fynde no Wynd there. And therefore may no Best lyve there ;
and so is the Eyr drye. And Men seye in theise Contrees, that Philo-
sophres som tyme wenten upon theise Hilles, and helden to here Nose
a Spounge moysted with Watre, for to have Eyr ; for the Eyr above was
so drye. — SiR John Maundeville.
The refectory at the skete of the Prodromos is much
like a Western one. We visited it whilst the monks
were taking their evening meal, which consisted of a
wineglassful of coarse rum, an allowance of wine, and
two very nasty-looking dishes of vegetables cooked in
strong-smelling oik During supper a monk reads
aloud from some spiritual book. Behind the door
hangs a long string of knots called the ko^i^oo-xolvlov
(if this be made of beads, like a Western rosary,
instead of knots, it is called a KOfL/BoXoyiov) ; its use is
the following :
If a monk has committed any fault, such as dis-
obedience to the orders of the hegoumenos, whilst the
rest are at their meal he has to take this string of
knots or beads from off its peg and go into the middle
of the refectory. Here he stands, repeating at each
knot the prayer called the €vx>j, with a prostration each
time, until the meal is over. This prayer is the
ordinary form used by the Greek Christian, and is
SELF-CONVICTED SLUMBERERS 205
therefore called * the prayer.' If he wants any temporal
or spiritual blessing he will not pray directly, * grant
this ' or * give me that/ but he will simply repeat the
^vyji slowly and with devotion for the length of time
he wishes to be at prayer. It is as follows :
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy upon
me.
This use of the rosary is called the canon [Kav(6v).
A Kofx^ocrxoivLov also hangs in the church, and is
thus used: If during the long services a monk is observed
to be slumbering in his stall, one of his brethren takes
a small wax taper, and lighting it at a lamp goes up
softly to the culprit and affixes it to the arm of his
stall. When the monk awakes out of his nap he
stands self-convicted by seeing the lighted taper at his
elbow, and instantly taking the string of knots from
its place he performs the canon in the midst of
the church for the space of half an hour. This
quaint custom only exists where the coenobite rule is
observed.
Before our supper the sound of a very skilfully
played semantron announced the service of apodeipnon,
or compline, which I attended, and welcomed as a
relief the change from the nasal ' Kyrie eleison ' to its
Roumanian form, * Domne milueste ; ' the chanting too
seemed to be rather more tuneful than that in the
Greek convents.
We had a long conversation after our meal with
Esaias and David. The Roumanians first came to
Athos in 1820, when they rented a kelli from the
Lavra. The little church belonging to this kelli
(dedicated to St. John Baptist) still exists just outside
the walls.
206 MOUNT ATHOS
In 1853 a few monks founded the skete on the
site of the kelH. They pay to the Lavra an annual
sum, equal to about 15/. sterling, for the privilege of
cutting wood on the mountain, besides the amount of
money they paid down when the contract enabling them
to found the skete was made. The name of the dicaios
is Damianus. There are now ninety monks and ten
servants, all Roumanians. They have a small farm in
Thasos, from which they obtain their oil, eggs, &c., and
a little property in Roumania. When the Roumanian
Government took possession of the lands of the mo-
nasteries it agreed to pay as an equivalent a certain
fixed sum each year to every monk, but the number
of the monks was not to be increased.
Esocdesia.
1. Catholicon, dedicated to the Epiphany.
2. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.
3. The Annunciation.
4. The Holy Unmercenaries.
There is one church outside the walls, that which
has been already mentioned as having been the chapel
of the original kelli, dedicated to the Prodromos, or
Forerunner, St. John the Baptist.
At the time of our visit the monks were actively
engaged in the erection of new buildings to complete
the south side of the quadrangle.
In connection with the catholicon I ought to have
mientioned that, as we were examining the interior, my
eye caught a fresco on the wall, representing St.
Christopher, in all respects conventionally drawn, with
the Child on his shoulder and the pine tree in his hand,
except that instead of an ordinary head the artist had
given him the head of a dog with two great tusks
THE DOG-FACED ST. CHRISTOPHER 20^
Sticking out of his jaws. I could not believe at first
that it was intended for the saint, until the sight of
the words ayto? XpLCTTO(j)6po<s beneath the figure re-
moved all doubt. I called to the monks and asked
them what made them give St. Christopher such a
monstrous head.
* Don't you know,' said they, * that St. Christopher
had a dog's head ? ' * No,' replied I ; ' we have no such
tradition in the West — at least I never heard of it — and
we always represent him, though a giant, with a proper
head.' ' Oh, yes,' said they, ' he had a dog's head and
tusks ; you will see one of his tusks at the second
monastery from here, and it has a fine smell.'
And sure enough we did see the tusk at St.
Dionysius, and it Aad a fine smell. But I am antici^
pating.
Esaias furnished me with the following scheme of
an ordinary day at the skete : The monks rise a little
before midnight and go to the church. Then they
say Mattins and the offices of the First, Third, and
Sixth Hours. These last until about 4 a.m., except on
Sundays and festivals, when they do not terminate
till six o'clock. After the hours comes the liturgy ;
celebrated in the principal church on Sundays and
festivals, in one of the smaller churches on week days.
Then they drink a little coffee and have a meal at
eight. After this repast they pursue their ordinary
avocations, and have at least an hour and a half's sleep
before 3 p.m., when they sing the Ninth Hour and
Vespers. This service lasts till about half-past four.
Then comes supper at six and then Compline, which
lasts an hour, after which they retire to rest at about
8.30 P.M. But on the festivals called aypvirvia they
208 MOUNT ATHOS
are in church the whole night, since Great Vespers and
the night offices begin immediately after Little Vespers
and last from twelve to fifteen hours. These festivals
occur on the average rather more than once a week.
On three days in the week — namely, Mondays, Wed-
nesdays, and Fridays — the monks have only one meal,
and this is eaten in the middle of the day. Besides
these weekly fast days there are the four Lents ^ and
several other particular occasions. On these days
eggs, cheese, fish, wine, and oil are forbidden. In
idiorrhythmic monasteries flesh meat is eaten on feast
days ; in coenobite ones the monks never touch it.
Wednesday, August '^\ This morning Angelos
came to us early, with the news that, although it still
looked cloudy, the muleteers thought that we might as
well attempt the ascent of the peak. We had kept
the Lavra mules, with their attendants, since the skete
was badly provided with riding animals. As a matter
of fact we knew perfectly well that these idle muleteers
had been putting stumbling-blocks in the way of going
up the mountain, hoping that we should think better
of our project and so spare them the trouble of the
climb ; it was only when they found us quite deter-
mined that they began to think that they had better
get the unpleasant job over as soon as possible.
We rose instantly, packed up our portmanteaux,
and ordered the mules to be laden. After taking some
coffee we stuffed our saddle bags with the good bread of
the skete, took leave of our hospitable friends at about
half-past eight o'clock, and rode towards the west.
^ I.e. the Forty Days (as ours) : the Fast of the Apostles Peter and
Paul, from the first Sunday after Pentecost to June 28 ; the Fast of the
Mother of God, August 1-14 ; the Fast of Christmas, November 15 to
December 24.
KERASIA 209
We ascended rapidly, the mules scrambling like
cats amongst the rocks and bushes. At this end of
the promontory, between the peak and the sea, the
land is cut up into rugged rocks and cliffs, and as a
rule the forest trees are only to be found occasionally
in sheltered situations. Soon after passing a fearful
precipice at a great height above the sea we arrived
at the kelli of Kerasia, about two hours and a half
after leaving the skete. This house is situated on a
small plateau, or break in the descent from the moun-
tain to the sea, and is sheltered on each side by high
spurs of the mountain, being open only to the sea in
front. Its height above the sea-level is about 2,200
feet. Georgirenes says of Kerasia that it is a 'plot of
Ground, all strew'd with such Hermitages as are at St.
Anne.* This well describes the position of the kelli,
although the writer seems to infer that it is a skete
like St. Anne, which is not the case. All around it are
little cottages and huts, some on comparatively smooth
ground surrounded with gardens, others on the rugged
slopes ; and one is situated on the point of a stupendous
and hardly accessible rock, the sides of which descend
almost perpendicularly for at least 3,000 feet into the
sea. We much wished to visit this hermitage, but time
forbade us to loiter ; so we were obliged to be content
with the view of it from above, as we ascended the
mountain, when we could plainly see this kelli with its
little chapel, a most ideal place for a hermit. Proba-
bly a week devoted to the visitation of the hermitages
situated on the point of Athos would amply repay the
trouble and difficulty the expedition would entail.
The principal kelli of Kerasia, at which we dis-
mounted, is a good house, having been built by some
p
2 10 MOUNT ATHOS
itinerant church painters, who lived in it for about
three years and then sold it to the Lavra. They have
left traces of their handicraft, for the walls of the prin-
cipal room are decorated with two large frescoes, well
executed but in a realistic and bad style of art ; repre-
senting on the one side the story of Susanna, and on
the other, if I remember aright, David's first view
of Bathsheba : rather odd subjects for the walls of a
hermitage.
It is now tenanted by a solitary old monk, who
evidently lives in the most frugal way, for all he could
give us for luncheon w^as eggs (half of which were
uneatable), raw tomatoes and cucumbers ; these, with
our Dutch cheese and some of the bread we had
brought from the Prodromos, formed our repast — not
very satisfying after our rough morning's ride, nor par-
ticularly appropriate to the work that was to follow,
the ascent of a mountain 7,000 feet high.
At a quarter to twelve we started, leaving Angelos
behind, to his great delight, for his burly frame was
not at all suited to mountaineering, giving him instruc-
tions to do the best he could for us in preparing a
supper for our return. Peter also stayed at Kerasia,
for he protested that his head would not stand great
heights, and he felt convinced that if he tried to go up
the mountain he should break his neck ! So away we
rode, the Archbishop, O — and myself, the faithful
Pantele in front with his master's stick, and two mule-
teers to show us the way.
Up we went, past the region of forest trees, over
the rocks and loose stones, which afforded but trea-
cherous foothold for the mules ; but these wonderful
beasts never once came down. Our prelate was in merry
ASCENT OF THE PEAK 2 I 1
pin. The keen mountain air seemed to have raised his
spirits to the highest pitch. He had provided himself
with a long and thick stick, and as he rode behind
O — 's mule he devoted himself to accelerating its
pace by the most vicious prods and blows. ' Thwack,
thwack,' went the stick, ' Hi ! hi ! ' shouted the Arch-
bishop, and the unfortunate animal would bound up
the mountain side with sudden jerks which momently
threatened to shake its rider from his seat.
* I wish the Archbishop would lose that stick,' said
O — ; and presently he did, and a pretty fuss there
was until it was recovered !
At last we reached a rocky platform overhanging
a precipice, on which stands the little Church of the
Panaghia, i,ooo feet below the summit of the mountain.
Attached to this chapel is a hut, in which the pilgrims
rest on the night before the festival of the Transfigura-
tion. Nobody lives here, and the place is only used
on this one night of the year.
Beyond this point the mules could not go ; so we
dismounted, and having looked into the little church
went inside the hut. A wooden sleeping-bench formed
its only furniture, upon which I lay down to rest for
a few minutes before we recommenced our ascent.
Meanwhile O — had converted another part of the
bench into a temporary observatory, and was engaged
in taking the readings of the aneroid and the thermo-
meter, so as to calculate the height of the mountain.
We had not been more than two minutes in the hut
when I saw O — hastily investigate his dress. ' Why,
here's a flea !' said he, ' and another ! and another ! and
another !' He caught a dozen straight off, and then
snatching up his scientific apparatus dashed out of the
P 2
212 MOUNT ATHOS
room, I was not slow to follow him, before the fleas
had time to turn their attention to me. They had
evidently been left behind by the pilgrims five days
before, and were naturally exceedingly hungry. After
a few minutes' rest on the grass outside we started for
the summit, to the Archbishop's great disgust, for he
wanted to take an hour's nap. We were soon past the
pine trees, climbing up the steep side of the white
marble peak by a zigzag path. Very soon the Arch-
bishop became exhausted, and, as we feared he would
never reach the top, whilst we were determined to
finish our climb, we left him sitting on a rock, and
gained the summit of the mountain in exactly one
hour after leaving the Panaghia. We found ourselves
in a cloud, and it being very chilly we took refuge in
the little Chapel of the Transfiguration, lighted the
lamps of the iconostasis (with great difficulty, for the
wicks, like everything else in the chapel, were as wet as
they could be\ and sang Magnificat.
This chapel is of the most primitive construction.
It has no windows, and a dome built of loose stones
forms the roof, through the holes in which a few rays
of light penetrate into the church. It measures nine
feet from the west wall to the iconostasis, and five
beyond to the east wall. At the west there is a shed,
which might be called a narthex, containing a little well
scooped out of the rock to hold the rain water from
the roof. On the iconostasis are four icons of brass,
those next the holy doors representing the Transfigu-
ration and the Blessed Virgin, the others St. Atha-
nasius and St. John the Baptist. On coming out we
found that the clouds were no longer round the peak,
but were floating beneath us. The rocky platform at
THE SUMMIT OF ATHOS 213
the top of the mountain is very small ; there is only
just room for the chapel and a small path round its
south and west sides. On the north the mountain de-
scends abruptly in a tremendous precipice ; on the
remaining sides the platform slopes a little before
breaking away. Just as we had sat down to rest and
O — had lighted a pipe, the clouds cleared off and dis-
closed the land and sea below us. To the north the
promontory stretched away to the mainland, twisting
itself into little bays and gulfs, looking like some snaky
monster floating on the sea. We could distinguish
several of the monasteries on the east side of the pro-
montory, lying peacefully by the sea shore. On the
west of us was the Gulf of the Holy Mountain spark-
ling in the sunshine, and, beyond, the peninsula of
Longos, or Sithonia ; on the north-east the blue waters
of the Strymonic Gulf, with the island of Thasos in
the distance ; on the south the open sea, with Lemnos
on the horizon. It was indeed a glorious sight.
Whilst we were, thus enjoying ourselves a cheery
voice broke the stillness of the air, and round the
corner of the chapel wall appeared the Archbishop,
with the faithful Pantele bringing up the rear. The
prelate threw himself down beside us, exhausted by
his unwonted exertions but yet immensely pleased with
himself. * We are all hadjis now,' said he, using the
Turkish word for a pilgrim. And, indeed, a visit to
the Holy Mountain, including the ascent of the peak,
is looked upon by the orthodox world as a pilgrimage
second only to that of a visit to the Holy Land. When
he had recovered his breath he bethought himself of
the perpetual cigarette, but the papers had been left
behind.
2 14 MOUNT ATHOS
' Donnez-moi votre tchibouque,' said he to O — ,
who thereupon handed to him his pipe, and the Arch-
bishop began to console himself with the fragrant
weed.
No wonder he was tired ; in addition to his ordinary-
grey cloak lined with ermine he had put over all
another enormous cloak, also lined with fur, from which
his head alone appeared. Fancy climbing a mountain
in two long fur cloaks and a cassock !
We left the summit at a quarter to four o'clock,
after having picked up some loose pieces of marble
as memorials of our pilgrimage. When we had de-
scended a short distance, O — , finding his stone heavy,
handed it to the Archbishop to be passed on to Pan-
tele, for him to carry ; but the prelate in his excess of
good spirits tried to throw it to his cavass, which of
course resulted in its flying wide of its mark and roll-
ing down the slope until it was lost at the bottom.
Whilst the Archbishop was giving vent to his merri-
ment at the catastrophe, his foot slipped and he
very nearly met with the same fate, and there was
something extremely comical in the sight of the Arch-
bishop lying flat on his back with his high hat
bounding down the side of the mountain and taking
a short cut of its own to the bottom. However, we all
reached the Panaghia in safety at 4-45. We instantly
mounted our mules, for we observed to our dismay
that the blackest of clouds was descending from the top
of the mountain, and that a great storm was evidently
brewing. We rode down as fast as we could, and
reached Kerasia at six o'clock.
Angelos had concocted some fair soup with haricot
beans, onions, and some of our cakes of preserved
TO BED AT KERASIA 215
soup ; thus, with some cheese, and vegetables from
the garden, we made a fair meal. The Archbishop
would not share our soup or our cheese, on account of
the fast, so he came off second best. We had to eat
our food off a low table about a foot high, the old-
fashioned Eastern table for use with divans.
The old monk had only two thin tapers and no oil,
so we were forced to make the greatest haste over our
supper and sleeping arrangements, so as to avoid go-
ing to bed in the dark. We spread our rugs on the
wooden divan, put up our levinges, and went to bed ;
and although the boards were hard, our rugs thin, and
the fleas innumerable, we soon fell asleep amidst the
flashes of lightning, the peals of thunder, and the
patter of the rain outside, for the great storm had
broken at last.
2l6 MOUNT ATHOS
CHAPTER XIV.
More blest the life of godly Eremite,
Such as on lonely Athos may be seen,
Watching at eve upon the giant height.
Which looks o'er waves so blue, skies so serene.
That he who there at such an hour hath been
Will wistful linger on that hallow'd spot ;
Then slowly tear him from the 'witching scene,
Sigh forth one wish that such had been his lot,
Then turn to hate a world he had almost forgot.
Childe Harold
We rose at 7 a.m., packed up our things, breakfasted
off dry bread, a couple of meat lozenges, and some
spring water — for there was no coffee to be had — and
started for the Monastery of St. Paul.
The storm of the previous night had completely
passed away, and it was as pleasant a morning as one
could wish for. We had heard that the roads on this
part of the promontory were very bad, but we never
expected to find them half so bad as they proved to be.
As a rule they are merely narrow paths on the
face either of the precipice or, what is just as bad, an
almost perpendicular slope, covered with loose stones,
except where steps of rock wind and twist backwards
and forwards over the depth below. It is really mar-
vellous how the mules manage to keep their footing,
especially as in some places these paths are almost as
steep as a staircase.
After we had gone some distance the road became
V
MONASTERY OF ST. PAUL 217
worse, not only on account of its ruggedness and its
enormous height above the place where one would
eventually land if one's mule happened to slip, but
also because the shrubs and bushes which overhang
the path tore and scratched us nearly out of our
saddles. So we all dismounted except O — , who
stuck manfully to his beast and arrived safely at the
bottom of a very awkward bit.
' Vous vivez encore ? ' were the first words of the
Archbishop as we joined each other and remounted
our mules.
After about two hours of this hard work we crossed
a spur of the mountain, and the Monastery of St. Paul
burst upon our view. I do not think any scene at
Athos so much impressed me with its beauty as this
first view of Agios Pavlos. A French traveller has
remarked that it reminds one of Gustave Dor6's weird
and majestic conceptions ; and Mr. Jerningham ^ says :
* To describe its grand aspect, its wonderful position,
or the magnificence *of the scenery above, below, and
around it, is wholly impossible. Indeed, the same
remark may apply generally to the whole peninsula.
Its varied beauty defies description and baffles any
attempt of the kind.'
Between us and the monastery lay a deep ravine,
the dry bed of a torrent which ceases to flow in
summer. This ravine or gorge descends from the
very top of the mountain to the sea. Not only is the
position of the convent romantic, but its buildings are
indescribably picturesque, with the rows of balco-
nies and overhanging rooms and the great tower and
battlemented wall behind them. We were not long in
' To and from Constantinople.
21 8 MOUNT ATHOS
descending into the torrent-bed and ascending on the
farther side to the monastic portal.
We were received with the accustomed honours
and taken upstairs to be regaled on rahatlakoum and
coffee — not very satisfying, as we had practically had
nothing to eat that day. We deluded ourselves with
the belief that breakfast would be ready in a short
time, but the monks took two hours to prepare it, so
when it did at last make its appearance we were almost
too hungry to eat, although what was provided was
not bad. After breakfast we all took 'kef till three
o'clock, when the deputy hegoumenos (the superior of
the convent was absent) escorted us to the library.
Here are over ninety MSS., but only five on vellum ;
one of these a quarto, written in the year 800. But
it is most extraordinary that the 200 Bulgarian and
Servian manuscripts that Curzon saw in 1837 have
absolutely disappeared ; not a single one was to be
found. And not only have the books gone, but ap-
parently every remembrance of them also, for nobody
had ever heard of them. ' Perhaps the Russians have
taken them,' said the monks, ' or perhaps they have
been destroyed.' The monastery has never been
burnt, and, as I cannot believe that the books could
have entirely vanished without leaving a trace of their
existence, I think that during some repairs they must
have been carelessly thrown into some corner of the
rambling old monastery. And it is rambling indeed.
We were taken over the buildings by the deputy
hegoumenos through the heavily timbered galleries,
which run in all directions. How it would burn if it
once caught fire ! On the land side there is a high
battlemented wall and a tower ; for here the monastery
TRESPASSING ON A HERMITS GARDEN 219
needs most protection, on account of the nature of the
site. The courtyard, which contains the cathoHcon, is
small and confined.
Towards evening we went down to the sea, about
a mile distant, to bathe. On the way I endeavoured
to take a photograph of the monastery. There was a
walled vine^'ard lying on the opposite side of the ravine
between the convent and the sea, from which I cal-
culated a good view might be obtained. Whilst the
others went towards the shore I walked round the
vineyard until I found a place where I might scramble
up the wall. At last I forced an entrance, and, after
trying several places, selected a spot on the edge of
the wall, from whence there was a capital view of the
monastery. I had just arranged the legs of the camera
when I heard a shrill voice calling out to me, and on
looking round saw that a little old man had emerged
from the kelli in the vineyard and was coming towards
me as fast as he could, shouting and gesticulating as if
he were afraid I was* going to steal all he possessed.
When he came close and found that I was a foreigner
he suggested that perhaps I was a Russian. ' No,'
said I, ' I am an Englishman.' On hearing that, the
old hermit changed his tone in an instant, and we
became great friends. He helped me to arrange my
* microscope,' as he called it, and after I had taken the
photograph of the monastery I showed him how he
might look through the camera and see the view.
This idea pleased him immensely, and he was already
peeping through the back when I made signs that he
must put his head underneath the black cloth, which I
was holding over the apparatus, so as to shut out the
light. On this, with a look of terror and surprise, he
2 20 MOUNT ATHOS
Stepped back about four paces. * Ochi ! ochi ! * said he,
* no ! no ! ' and all my endeavours to bring him back were
useless. Evidently he was fearful of magic, thinking
that the black cloth had some connection with the
fiend ; and I dare say to this day he tells his cronies of
the narrow escape he had, and how near he came to
losing his soul for the sake of a trumpery peepshow !
However, if he entertained a suspicion that a
devil was lurking in the camera he thought none the
worse of its owner, for he escorted me to the end of
his vineyard and filled my hat with grapes. I after-
wards joined O — and bathed.
This evening we talked to the deputy hegoumenos
about the monastery. These are the particulars he
gave us.
St. Paul's contains eighty monks and twenty ser-
vants. It has lands on the mainland near Salonica,
on Thasos, and on Cassandra ; also a small quantity
in Moldavia, in which country it formerly possessed
two monasteries, but these have been taken away.
Two sketes belong to it, the Nativity of the Blessed
Virgin and St. Demetrius ; ^ also thirty-two kellia,
besides the calyvia belonging to the sketes. The
coenobite rule is observed, and the name of the hegou-
menos is Sophronius.
Esocclesia.
1. Catholicon, dedicated to the Purification of the Blessed
Virgin, containing two paracclesia — St. George and St. Nicholas.
2. St. Anthimus.
3. St Gregory.
4. St, Nicholas.
' This is probably the skete which, according to the archimandrite
Porphyry, contained thirty monks.
ST. PAUL'S, FROM A MONASTIC ENGRAVING OF 1850.
ST. PAULS 221
5. St. Constantine.
6, St. George,
Churches without the Walls.
1. St. Demetrius.
2. All Saints.
3. The Panaghia.
4. St. Constantine.
5. St. Spyridion
The early history of the convent is obscure, but it
seems probable that it owes its origin to St. Paul, a
son of the Emperor Maurice^ (582-602), who lived
here an ascetic life and built a chapel on the site of the
future monastery. This seems to have been dependent
on Xeropotamou until the year 1404, when it was
sold to two Servian nobles, Gerasimus ''^ and Anthony,
who founded the independent Monastery of St. Paul.
John Constantine Biancobano, hospodar of Hungaro-
Vallachia, repainted and enlarged it, and added the
tower and the refectory in the year 1 700.
We occupied the next morning in visiting the
catholicon, which is a fine church but new (1845),
Like that of the Prodromos there are no divisions
behind the iconostasis, and the nave is not separated
from the narthex by a wall but by pillars and an arch-
way, on each side of w^hich is an icon. There is a pro-
naos and two paracclesia — St. George and St. Nicholas
— and it is remarkable that these paracclesia are not
separated from the main body of the church, but in
their open arrangement more nearly resemble Latin
side chapels. The walls are not frescoed.*^
' According to Du Cange, Maurice had a son of this name.
^ The daughter of Gerasimus became the wife of Mahomet II., the
conqueror of Constantinople.
^ Measurements : Sanctuary : from north to south, 43J feet ; from
22 2 MOUNT ATHOS
After we had measured the church a priest put
on a stole, and candles being lighted the relics were
brought out from behind the iconostasis. First we
were shown a piece of the True Cross, about eight
inches long, of this shape,
f
showing the hole made by one of the nails ; it is pre-
served in a large silver shrine, ornamented both out-
side and inside with large enamels on porcelain. There
is a second relic of the True Cross almost as large as
the first ; this was presented to the monastery by
Elizabeth, Empress of Russia, 136 years ago. We
were then shown the gifts of the Magi, said to have
been brought to this monastery by a mysterious wo-
man called Cala Maria, or Mary the Beautiful. The
incense is contained in a sort of basket made of the
gold, through the interstices of which it can be seen ;
the handle of the basket is formed of the beads of
myrrh. There are three distinct relics of these gifts,
and each of them has a different form. Besides these
most valued relics are the skull of St. Panteleemon
and a leg of St. Gregory the Theologue ; also an
icon said to have belonged to the Empress Theodora,
which escaped unhurt from the flames into which it
had been thrust by certain iconoclasts. The church
also contains the following treasures :
(a) A magnificent cross, used as an altar cross, of
iconostasis to end of east apse, i8 feet ; across chord of east apse, i6 feet.
Nave : across transepts, 50^ feet ; from iconostasis to archway leading to
narthex, 32^ feet ; from this archway to the west end of narthex, 24 feet.
ST. PAULS TREASURES 223
wood overlaid with fine silver-gilt work and studded all
over with precious stones. The great beauty of this
cross, however, consists in the miniatures, painted in the
earliest Byzantine style, which cover both its back and
front. There were originally twenty-eight miniatures
on each side, making fifty-six in all ; of these the twenty
large ones are intact, but eight small ones are missing
on one side and five on the other. They represent
scenes from the life of Christ, being painted in gold
and colours on vellum and encrusted with seed pearls ;
each is covered with a small piece of glass. The cross
is altogether in very bad repair, and appears to have
been shamefully used. It has a stand of Persian brass
work, which of course does not belong to it.
(6) A book cover (probably belonging to a book of
the Gospels) of similar workmanship. In the centre
is a plaque of ruby-coloured glass, on which is painted
in gold our Blessed Saviour, with outstretched arms ;
beyond this is a border of illuminations on vellum,
from I J to 2 inches wide, the groundwork of which
is composed of seed 'pearls ; then comes an outer
margin of silver-gilt, studded with jewels, on which
were originally fourteen small medallions, painted like
the centre plaque ; of these only six now remain.
(c) A diptych, also of the same workmanship, repre-
senting on the one side the Crucifixion and on the
other the Annunciation ; surrounded by a border of
lozenge-shaped medallions, with square medallions at
the four corners of each side.
All the inscriptions on the illuminations are in
Latin, and the monks assert that these three magnifi-
cent objects were presented by Pope Silvester to the
Emperor Constantine the Great when he baptized
2 24 MOUNT ATHOS
him in a.d. 315. Truly a most startling statement
for Athos monks to make, of all people ; for this
story of the baptism of Constantine is an ancient,
though now somewhat decayed, support of the claims
of the Papacy. As a matter of fact Constantine
was baptized by Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia, in
A.D. ZZ7'
After examining these treasures we breakfasted,
and then, bidding farewell to our hosts, ordered our
luggage to be sent down to the port to meet us at a
certain hour, and set out for the skete of St. Anne.
We had passed this place on our way from Kerasia
the preceding day, but at a considerable height above
it, so we had partially to retrace our steps. We soon,
however, branched off on to another road. It was
quite as bad as that of the day before, if not worse,
for the last part of this terrible path winds up the
face of a precipice overhanging the sea ; in one place
it is tunnelled through a projecting piece of rock. We
were all very glad when we found ourselves safe in
the valley of St. Anne. This is shut in between
three mountain-sides and the sea, and is a charmingly
retired spot. The skete itself is situated on the rocky
ledge of a great slope, at the height of 1,000 feet
above the sea ; and all about the valley, from the moun-
tain-side far above the skete down to the shore, are
dotted the calyvia belonging to it, sixty in number,^
each with its garden and little church. In these
calyvia live during the week the 150 monks. Every
Saturday night they assemble in the skete and pass the
night together in the kyriacon (or principal church,
which answers to the catholicon of a monastery),
* John Comnenus gives the same number.
SKETE OF ST. ANNE 225
returning on Sunday to their homes. In the calyvia
they live a common life, two or three together, and
occupy themselves with cultivating their gardens,
carving little crosses to sell to the pilgrims at Caryes
and stamps for the Eucharistic bread. Besides these
manual labours they have to attend, of course, to their
daily devotions.
Georgirenes thus describes the life of the monks
of St. Anne's : ' Here Hermits live most retired and
melancholly, being not above two or three, sometimes
but one in an House. And they do imitate the Lives
of those antient Monks in ^^gypt, about Thebais, that
were imitators of St. Anthony, who did himself, as did
all his followers, live and maintain themselves by hand
labour and manufactures, though of a very mean sort,
yet enough to earn them Food and Raiment.'
This is the true life of a skete monk, and St. Anne's
is the type of the real skete, those of St. Elias, the
Serai, and the Prodromos being merely monasteries
without the name.
The skete itself *is surrounded by gardens and
vineyards, watered by mountain streams, which either
flow in little rivulets along the paths or are carried
along the wooden troughs formed of the hollowed-out
trunks of trees ; these are extensively used on Athos,
especially in the neighbourhood of Caryes, where the
water is frequently carried overhead across the roads.
It consists of the kyriacon, a bell tower, and a few
domestic buildings, inhabited by two or three monks
during the week and used as a sort of club and refec-
tory on Sundays. Several monks were waiting to
receive us and to offer us the usual refreshment ; they
seemed to be poorer than the regular monastic religious.
Q
2 26 MOUNT ATHOS
The kyriacon is dedicated to St. Anne and contains
two paracclesia, St. Charalampes and the Zood6chos
Peeghee (17 ZwoSd^^os Ilr^yrj), or Life-giving Fountain.^
The sanctuary measures 21 feet from iconostasis to
end of east apse, and 40 feet from north to south,
across the bema and the two side chapels. Nave :
across the transepts, 60J feet ; from iconostasis to west
wall of nave, 30 feet ; narthex from east to west, 19I
feet.
There is no pronaos and no west door to the
narthex, the entrance to the church being by a door
in the south wall of the narthex. There is a small
library on the north side of the narthex, containing
six-and-forty manuscripts, only three of which are
written on vellum and none of any interest. We did
not see the relics ; they include, according to John
Comnenus, the left foot of St. Anne.^ The history of
this skete is obscure. * Perhaps as old as 1007, his-
torically founded in 1680;' so says Porphyry,^ and
the information we obtained on the spot does not
throw much light upon it. According to the monks
there was originally a monastery close to the sea,
dedicated to St. Eleutherius, and they pointed out to
us some ruined buildings on the distant shore as being
^ A tender and graceful title of the Blessed Virgin. Under this in-
vocation she is represented as sitting in the midst of a basin filled with
water, in which fish are swimming. Her hands are extended, and before
her is the Infant Christ in the attitude of benediction. Sometimes He
bears on His lap an open book, in which is written, ' I am the Living
Water.' Around the fountain men of all conditions, from princes and
bishops to the beggars and the impotent, are crowding to bathe and to
drink.
^■•' At Costantynoble lyethe Seynte Anne oure Ladyes Modre, whom
Seynte Elyne dede brynge fro Jerusalem.' — Maundeville.
^ Christian Remembrancer, 185 1,
SKETE OF ST. ANNE 227
the remains of this place. They further informed us
that 400 years ago, owing to the monastery being
repeatedly attacked by pirates, the monks deter-
mined to abandon it ; they first built the Church of
St. Panteleemon on the mountain-side, a little way
above the present skete, and afterwards moved to St.
Anne's. The Church of St. Panteleemon still exists.
Comnenus affirms that the present kyriacon was
enlarged by Dionysius Andrius, the ex- Patriarch who
paved the Athos roads. The skete and all the land
about here belongs to the Lavra.
It was very hard to rouse the Archbishop from his
kef, but at last we succeeded in making a start and
left the skete at half-past three. In an hour we
arrived at the port of St. Paul, after having scrambled
down an almost perpendicular bank. The mules have
a peculiar way of descending a steep place ; they plant
their fore feet firmly, and then allow their hind legs to
slip down the hill. At first the rider fancies every
moment that the mule»is falling, but he soon discovers
that, although the mule often slips heavily, it always
manages to keep two feet firm ; this is of course the
secret of these animals' wonderful performances on the
mountain paths.
Our luggage was waiting for us, but the Arch-
bishop's had not arrived from the monastery, and to
our great disappointment he told us that he was not
coming with us ; we were going too fast for him, he said,
and, as time was no object whatever to him, but of
great consequence to us, he feared we must part. So
we kissed his hand and very regretfully bade him fare-
well, assuring him that we should meet again at another
monastery — in fact, that we should take care to do so.
Q2
2 28 MOUNT ATHOS -
' No,' said the Archbishop, ' I fear we shall never
see each other again. Good-bye.'
We pushed off from the little port, and two monks
rowed us over the smooth surface of the sea towards a
point of rock. The Archbishop stood upon the shore
with the faithful Pantele and Peter, and waved his
handkerchief, which we answered by waving our hats
until the little rocky promontory hid him from our
view.
The Monastery of St. Dionysius was now in sight,
and in about half an hour we reached the harbour
beneath the rock on which the monastery stands, with
its lofty walls and rows of overhanging balconies. We
tried to take a photograph whilst our luggage was
being landed, but the sun was setting and the light too
bad ; so, thinking that Angelos had already heralded
our arrival, we climbed up the 200 feet which is
the height of the ascent from the sea to the portal of
the monastery. We were received by a monk at the
gate and led through the gloomy courts and corridors
to a dark, low, and rather dirty room. Angelos
now arrived with our baggage, and we set him to
work to scold our monk and to demand where the
hegoumenos was and why we had been taken to such
a miserable place. So away he went to announce our
arrival to his superior and to prepare our meal. It
did not take long to get supper ready, for it was not a
very grand meal, and our tempers did not improve our
appetites, our churlish reception having put us into the
worst of humours. There were no chairs, so we sat
on a very low divan round a table which was perhaps
a foot high. Nearly the whole of our dining-room was
built out from the wall over the precipice ; the floor
MONASTERY OF ST. DIONYSIUS 229
sloped outwards as if the supports had sHghtly given
way, and looking out of window made one's blood run
cold.
Supper being ended, we again asked after the
abbot's health, and gave our monk to understand that
we had no intention of sleeping where we had supped.
We were presently taken, therefore, to a large room
on the other side of the convent ; but still no hegou-
menos appeared. Then we sent word to him that we
wished to see him, and the answer was returned that
he had gone to bed, and hoped we would excuse him
till the morning. This being an ultimatum we dis-
posed ourselves for sleep.
We rose about seven, and accompanied the monks
who had been sent to conduct us to the hegoumenos.
My lord abbot was very apologetic and conciliatory
over the glyko and coffee, but O — thought proper to
look like thunder, and I received his apologies rather
coldly ; however, as he was very civil and conducted
us in person to the catholicon, we finally forgave him.
This church,^ dedicafed to St. John the Baptist, is a
fine building, pinched in between the domestic build-
ings which surround it, so that it will infallibly be burnt
if the monastery ever catches fire again, as it did on
October 21, 1523. In that great conflagration the
whole of the convent was gutted ; it was restored with
this church — which was rebuilt on a larger scale —
about the year 1580, by Peter, the voivode, authentes
of Hungaro-Vallachia. It possesses an esonarthex, an
^ The nave measures 29 feet from west wall to iconostasis, and 41^
feet across the transepts. The sanctuary is 13 feet from iconostasis to
end of east apse, and 13 feet across, or, including the two side chapels,
41 A feet.
230 MOUNT ATHOS
exonarthex, a sort of pronaos — a wooden balcony over-
looking the sea — and a curious cloister on the south
side of the church. On the north of the nartheces is a
paracclesi of the Panaghia, containing a small picture
said to be by St. Luke, now utterly ruined. Finely
carved doors lead from the esonarthex into the nave.
The frescoes, with which the walls are covered, date
from the rebuilding of the monastery by the voivode
Peter; when Mr. Tozer was visiting St. Dionysius he
found a young monk engaged upon their restoration.
The chief relics are the right hands of St. John the
Baptist and of St. John, Patriarch of Alexandria (St.
John the Merciful ?), a piece of St. Peter's chain, a
portion of the True Cross, and the tusk of St. Chris-
topher to which we were referred when at the skete of
the Prodromos. I produced my tape and found that
it measured about two inches in length from the
point to where it had been broken off above the root.
A piece of the head or forehead of St. John Baptist is
said to have been here. If it be still preserved I cannot
say ; we did not see it. In addition to these there are
the bones of St. Niphon, confessor to Neagulus, voi-
vode of Hungaro-Vallachia, who gave the magnificent
casket in which they are preserved. Of this saint
Georgirenes gives the following account in his descrip-
tion of the convent :
Besides these they show the Bones of one Nymphus, once Patri-
arch of Constantinople, who being weary of pubHck employment
retir'd hither, unknown to any who he was ; so they, looking upon
him as a poor Vagabond that wanted work, employ'd him as their
Muleteer to fetch in their wood ; in which employment he continued
with great humility and faithfulness many years, not offering to ride
any of the Mules going or coming, and kept all the Church Fasts
strictly in the midst of all his drudgery. At his death bed he dis-
ST. DIONYSIUS — CATHOLICON 23 1
cover'd to the Superiour who he was, and that he chose that manner
of Life to mortifie his proud flesh. Whereupon, looking upon him as
a Saint, they keep his Bones as a sacred Relique.
St. Niphon is commemorated on August 1 1. The
casket or shrine — containing all his bones with the
exception (so Comnenus says) of his head and right
hand, which were preserved in the Monastery of
Argiesius in Hungaro-Vallachia — is very elaborate and
interesting. It takes the form of a church, modelled
in silver-gilt, and measures i foot 1 1 inches long by
I foot broad and 2 feet in its extreme height. The
architecture of this church is a curious mixture of
Byzantine and Gothic ; for instance, it possesses four
small domes and one large one in the centre ; be-
tween these are small spires ; the roof is gabled and
the windows are filled with semi-flamboyant tracery.
Round the church are medallions of saints in niello
work. Curzon says of this extraordinary reliquary :
' It is altogether a wonderful and precious monu-
ment of ancient art, the production of an almost
unknown country, rich, quaint, and original in its
design and execution, and is indeed one of the most
curious objects on Mount Athos.'
The only other thing of interest in the catholicon
is an icon of the Baptist, which escaped the general
conflagration in the sixteenth century. The library is
a small room over the church, approached by a very
steep and narrow staircase in the wall, up which
Angelos threaded his way with extreme difficulty
There appeared to be at least 5cx) manuscripts. The
principal ones are a quarto evangelistarium in uncial
letters, consisting of 474 leaves, imperfect, probably of
the seventh century; another uncial book of the Gospels,
232 MOUNT ATHOS
also of the seventh century. Both these manuscripts
are in good preservation. Besides these two there
are a thick octavo New Testament of the twelfth
century, with full-page illuminations ; a folio evan-
gelistarium with a large illumination at the beginning,
and several rolls containing liturgies, but all late.
The books seemed well cared for.
Besides the catholicon with its paracclesi St.
Dionysius possesses the following churches within the
walls :
The Archangels,
St. Nicholas,
St. Chrysostom,
St. George,
St. Niphon,
The Holy Unraercenaries,
St. John the Divine ;
and outside the convent :
All Saints,
The Holy Apostles,
St. James the brother of God,
St. Demetrius,
making twelve churches in all. Six kellia belong to it,
likewise four farms in Chalcidice and two in the island
of Thasos. The community, numbering 100 monks,
follows the ccEnobite rule ; these monks have ten
servants, and their old abbot's name is Kyriacos.
Now for the history of the monastery.
The founder was a certain Dionysius, a native of a
village called Corussus, in Castoria. This man came
to Mount Athos and lived as a hermit on the spot
where the monastery is now built Having for several
nights seen the apparition of a great torch burning in
ST. DIONYSIUS FOUNDERS AND BENEFACTORS 233
that place, he resolved to found a monastery there, and
for that purpose went to Trebizonde, of which city his
brother was archbishop. By his influence he succeeded
in interesting the Emperor of Trebizonde, Alexius III.
Comnenus, in his project, and returning to Athos he
built, in 1380 or 1385, a church in honour of St. John
the Baptist at Alexius's expense. The chrysobull of
the Emperor relating to the foundation of the monas-
tery is still preserved, and I much regret that we did
not ask to see it, being unaware of its existence. It is
described in Finlay's * History of Greece,' on the
authority, I believe, of Fallmerayer, as 'one of the
most valuable monuments of the pictorial and cali-
graphical art of the Greeks in the Middle Ages.
This imperial charter consists of a roll of paper, a foot
and a half broad and fifteen feet long, surrounded by
a rich border of arabesques. The imperial titles are
set forth in capitals about three inches high, em-
blazoned in gold and ultramarine ; and the word
" Majesty," wherever it occurs in the document, is
always written, like the Emperor's signature, with the
imperial red ink. This curious document acquires its
greatest value from containing at its head, under a
half-length figure of our Saviour with hands extended
to bless the imperial figures, two full-length portraits
of the Emperor Alexios and the Empress Theodora,
about sixteen inches high, in which their features,
their imperial crowns, their rich robes and splendid
jewels are represented in colours with all the care and
minuteness of the ablest Byzantine artists. Imme-
diately under the imperial titles, below the portraits,
are the two golden bullcB, or seals, each of the size of
a crown piece, bearing the respective effigies and titles
234 MOUNT ATHOS
of the two sovereigns. The seals are attached to the
bull by chains of gold.'
Later on the voivode Neagulus, who gave the
shrine of St. Niphon, built the tower and an aqueduct ;
and after the fire of 1523 the voivode Peter restored
the monastery and rebuilt the church, Silvanus, a monk,
being Peter's ' clerk of the works.' Roxandra, this
good voivode's daughter, built an infirmary and the
fine refectory, and her husband, Alexander the voivode,
became a monk under the name of Pachomius. Other
benefactors were Macarius, metropolitan of Heraclea,
and two pairs of brothers, about whom I can dis-
cover nothing, named respectively Lazarus and Boius,
Manuel and Thomas.
■35
CHAPTER XV.
We left St. Dionysius at about half-past ten, after
having again taken glyko and coffee with the abbot
Kyriacos, who now could not do enough for us.
Our luggage was put into a boat, and two stout
monks rowed us round the point which shuts out the
^ ■-^-
MONASTERY OF ST. GREGORY.
view of St. Gregory from St. Dionysius. The voyage
did not take much more than a quarter of an hour.
On the way we stopped to take a photograph of the
convent from a rock ; on reaching the port, much to
our annoyance we found that we had taken its least
picturesque side. It is situated, very much like St.
236 MOUNT ATHOS
Dionysius, on a rocky promontory which forms one
side of a narrow gorge running down to the sea.
On the little quay stood a pleasant-looking, quiet-
mannered monk, who received us very courteously, as
if he were accustomed to perform the duties of hos-
pitality, and took us up to the monastery. Here the
hegoumenos was waiting for us in a bright and clean
chamber overlooking the sea. We sat for a long time
chatting over our coffee to these two most intelligent
and gentlemanly men. They were much interested in
hearing about the Anglican Church, and discussed the
possibilities of unity thoughtfully and without prejudice.
Soon breakfast was announced, and we were conducted
along the corridor to another part of the monastery,
where, on a table covered with a snow-white cloth, a
capital meal had been prepared. We had not sat
down to such a repast since leaving the skete of the
Prodromes, and, odds-trenchers-and-knives, how we
ate ! The abbot having some business to transact, his
courteous deputy, who had met us at the quay, enter-
tained us right nobly, although he would not join us
in eating and drinking. After breakfast we returned
to the reception room and had coffee, for the fourth
time this day, and it was only half-past twelve.
Having indulged in a short siesta we were taken to
the catholicon. There is nothing of any particular in-
terest about this church ^ except a good iconostasis of
^ But Didron noticed a curious fresco, I suppose somewhere in the
catholicon. ' Au couvent de Saint-Gregoire, dans le mont Athos, j'ai vu
un Adam et Eve sans nombril.' How this would have pleased Sir Thomas
Browne, who wrote a whole essay in support of his favourite conceit !
The measurements of this catholicon are as follows : Sanctuary : from
north to south, including chapels, 23 feet ; from iconostasis to east end
of apse, 12 feet. Nave, across transepts, 38 feet; from iconostasis to
west wall of nave, 25 feet.
MONASTERY OF ST. GREGORY 237
carved wood ; there are a few relics, but, as vespers was
just going to be sung, we had no time to see them.
There are both nartheces, and on the south side
is a paracclesi dedicated to St. Gregory. The hbrary
contains about 150 manuscripts ; among them a paper
octavo of the fifteenth century, consisting of six leaves,
curious on account of the extremely minute characters
in which it is written ; the subject is the Shepherd of
Hermas. There are four vellum MSS., one being of
the ninth century, consisting of a collection of sermons.
There are also several late (seventeenth and eighteenth
century) classical MSS., containing various works of
Homer, Plutarch, and Hesiod. All the old books were
burnt, and the present collection only dates from the
last hundred years.
The refectory is small and poor. In it we had a
lesson in Byzantine music ; a monk singing to us from
the notes in the musical primer which I have before
described, and which he finally gave me. We returned
to the reception room to take our farewell cup of coffee.
As we passed the catholicon a monk with a censer
coming through the doorway censed us and other
persons who were standing outside.
The Monastery of St. Gregory contains eighty
monks and ten servants. The community has lands
in Macedonia and Chalcidice, having lost two small
farms in Vallachia in 1865. The following is a list of
the churches :
Esocdesia.
1. The catholicon, dedicated to St. Nicholas, containing one
paracclesi, dedicated to St. Gregory.
2. The Zoodochos Peeghee, or Life-giving Fountain.
3. St. Demetrius.
4. The Holy Archangels.
5. St. Anastasia.
23© MOUNT ATHOS
Exocclesia.
1. All Saints (cemetery church).
2. The Blessed Virgin. .
3. The Holy Fathers of Athos (i.e. all the
All these have
saints that the Holy Mountain has produced).
4. St. John the Divine.
5. St. Stephen.
6. St. Tryphon (at Caryes). ^
cathismata
attached to
them.
Besides the five cathismata there are four kellia
belonging to the monastery. The monastery seems to
have been founded about the year 1260 by St. Gregory
the younger, who, according to the monastic tradition,
was a missionary from Mount Sinai. It was restored
by Alexander, Hospodar of Moldo-Vallachia, in 1497.
On November 30, 1761, it was destroyed by fire.
Vespers was still being chanted when we left the
convent, but the good abbot, Simeon, came out of the
catholicon to bid us farewell and accompanied us to
the gate.
*We are much disappointed,' said he, 'at your
leaving us so soon ; you ought to have stayed the
night at least ; but perhaps you will come back to us
again before you leave Athos '^. '
We said that we should do our best to return, so as
to spend a few days under their most hospitable roof ;
and we fully intended to do so, thinking that we should
have some time on our hands after having completed
the circuit of the monasteries. But, alas ! our sojourn
on the Holy Mountain was all too short, and we did
not see again the kind abbot and his courteous lieutenant.
The latter escorted us to the boat.
Our crew consisted of a couple of monks and two
servitors. One of these cosmicoi was a well-built
ST. Gregory's, from a monastic engraving of 1819.
(/« the upper portion of the plate is St. Nicholas, the Patron of the Monastery,
habited as an Eastern Bishop.)
A TALE OF WOE 239
youth of nineteen, with an ugly but honest and good-
natured face, who chattered incessantly during the
whole voyage. Being curious to get an insight into
the habits and thoughts of these Athonite lay-folk, we
entered into conversation with him and asked him a
good many questions, which he answered with the
accompaniment of wry faces and grimaces, as is
usual with the lower orders of Greeks when under
cross-examination, to express, I suppose, the mental
torture such a proceeding causes them. He told us
that his home was in some obscure island of the
Archipelago, and that he had come to Athos to make
a little money by his calling, that of fisherman and
sailor. He had worked at St. Gregory's for a year,
and in that time had amassed a small store of savings,
with which he had embarked in a little schooner,
hoping to work his passage back to his island home.
Hardly had they set sail when a storm came on, and
before they left the Gulf of the Holy Mountain they
were wrecked in the Bay of Daphne (which is the
safest anchorage at Athos and lies under the Monas-
tery of Xeropotamou). Our unlucky friend barely
escaped with his life, all his worldly possessions being
lost, and he sorrowfully pointed out to us the remains
of the wreck (for we were just passing the place), where
twenty-five as good mejidiehs as ever were coined were
lying at the bottom of the sea.
We tried to cheer him up, suggesting that another
year would produce another crop of mejidiehs and that
Athos was as pleasant a place as one could wish for.
But he said he was very anxious to go home and he
didn't like being at Athos at all. Was it, then, the
monks that he disliked, or was the food bad ? Oh, no ;
240 MOUNT ATHOS
the victuals were good enough and the caloyers all
very well, but he particularly wished to get back to
his island.
' Ah,' said we, * you want to get married ! ' It was
quite ridiculous to see how the broad, good-humoured
face blushed under this indictment. And with many
grimaces he was obliged to own that there was a
young lady in the case, who was anxiously awaiting
his return. At this news all on board joined in
chaffing him unmercifully, and told him that by this
time his sweetheart had certainly married somebody
else ; but this he stoutly denied, although he admitted
that, as neither of them could read or write, he had
had no tidings of her since their parting. Then, much
to the edification of our two monastic oarsmen, I pro-
ceeded to deliver a little homily on the advantages
of a celibate life and on the number of bad wives
there are about, ending by quoting the advice of the
Apostle : * He that marrieth doeth well, but he that
marrieth not doeth better ; ' a text which was received
in the bows of the boat with shouts of ' Polycala,' but
the devoted lover remained unmoved alike by taunt
and precept.
So the time passed cheerfully enough, although it
took us nearly three hours to reach Russico. The
Gulf of the Holy Mountain was as smooth as glass,
and we thoroughly enjoyed the splendid scenery on
our right as we skirted the western side of the promon-
tory. We passed two monasteries on our way, intend-
ing to visit them later on — the wonderful Simopetra on
its lofty crag, joined to the side of the mountain by an
aqueduct, and Xeropotamou on the slope above the
Bay of Daphne.
RUSSICO 24 1
With few . exceptions the sea washes the rocky-
bases of the precipices all the way from Cape St.
George (the ancient Nymphaeum) to the other side of
Simopetra, and these exceptions are the little bays or
creeks where the valleys, in which the monasteries are
inclosed, run down to the sea. Thus the Monasteries
of St. Paul, St. Dionysius, St. Gregory, and Simopetra
are almost completely isolated from each other, and for
this reason it is customary to go from one to the other
by boat, unless the weather be stormy, so as to avoid
the dangerous paths which are the only other means
of communication. Soon after passing Simopetra the
mountain begins to fall away, and by the time one
reaches Xeropotamou the frowning cliffs have given
place to gentle slopes.
The white walls of Russico can be seen a great way
off ; we seemed to be a long time getting there, and, as
the sun was near the ridge of Longos, we began to
get impatient, fearing lest the gates should be shut.
Several ships were lying in the little bay, which is
secure enough except when south winds blow, and
amongst them the steam launch belonging to the
monastery : for Russico is a go-ahead colony ; the in-
habitants pride themselves upon being the subjects of
a first-class European Power and despise the Greek
civilization as a relic of Oriental barbarism. The
whole place is more like a small town than a monastery,
although the convent itself, which is of considerable
size, is inclosed and can be entered only through a
gateway ; for all around it and down to the water's
edge are workshops, and storehouses, and dwelling
houses ; and still the monks are building more, so that the
great monastery is increasing in extent year by year.
R
242 MOUNT ATIIOS
It cannot be disguised that Russico has more
concern with poHtics than reHgion, and that unless the
Russian colonization of Athos receives a check the
greatest political complications will ensue. As I have
just. said, I am fully persuaded that Russico is mainly
a government affair supported by government money,
and indirectly, if not directly, under government control.
But it will be asked, What interests other than
religious can Russia have at Mount Athos ? From
a political point of view the possession of the Holy
Mountain is of the highest importance to Russia in
furthering her schemes for the extension of her territory
to the shores of the Mediterranean. The eyes of
Russia and of Austria are both turned covetously upon
Salonica, a town second to Constantinople alone in
political importance, on account of the power it would
confer on its possessors over the destinies of European
Turkey, and the acquisition of the Athonite peninsula
would enable Russia to give checkmate to the schemes
of her rival ; for the whole promontory may be looked
upon as one gigantic natural fortress, practically un-
assailable by sea and connected with the mainland
by an isthmus only a mile and a half in breadth, which
a few earthworks would render impassable,^ whilst,
owing to the dangerous nature of the coast and the
frequency of storms, a successful blockade would be
impossible. Each monastery, too, is defended by
strong walls and gates, able to afford a stout resistance
to any attacking body destitute of artillery, which, from
the extreme ruggedness of the country, could be only
partially employed by a land force.
' I am told that the Russians have founded a settlement (Chormitza)
near here, containing 100 monks.
THE RUSSIAN QUESTION 243
The history of the Russian colonization of the
Holy Mountain is one dismal story of abuse of confi-
dence, hypocrisy, bribery, and machination, and yet a
tale with an amusing side to it, for at last the sharp
and crafty Greeks have been outwitted by the x^vSpo-
K€(f)a\oL PaxTcroL, the Russian numskulls. Soon after
reaching Athos we discovered that great ill-feeling
existed between the Greeks and their northern co-
religionists, the former complaining that the Russians
had firmly established themselves on the Holy Moun-
tain by false pretences. The danger which they fear
is that Russia will claim the promontory as her own
when sufficient Russian subjects have been imported
to outnumber the Greeks, and that thus a great blow
will be struck at the authority of the CEcumenical Patri-
arch and at the pre-eminence of the Greek Church,
the ultimate aim of the Russians being to remove the
patriarchate to Moscow, or in some other way to sub-
ject the mother to the daughter Church and both to
the Czar and his ministers. This may be one motive
for the Russian colonization of Athos, and it is true
that the Greek Church, coextensive with the Greek
nation, would prove a great obstacle in the way of the
Muscovite appropriation of Constantinople or other
parts of the Turkish Empire where the Greeks form
the larger part, or even a considerable minority, of the
population. Appreciating this fact, the Russians may
well wish to break the power of the Church, a task of
such magnitude that even the conqueror Mahomet H.
shrank from undertaking it. And there are not want-
ing other signs besides the colonization of Mount
Athos to show that the Russians are pursuing this
policy. Turkey is at the present time at the feet of
R 2
244 MOUNT ATHOS
her conquerors and completely under her influence.
The recent conflict between the Phanar and the Porte,
which has resulted in the resignation of the late Patri-
arch, Joachim 1 11.^ (by whom we were received before
going to Athos), has been almost certainly the work
of Russian intrigue, as was the late Bulgarian schism,
not yet healed. The weakening effect of such troubles
as these to the Church of Constantinople may be easily
realized.
As Russico is the head-quarters of the Russians,
has been for centuries connected with their country,
and was the starting-point of the present Russian
colonization, it may be as well to give in this
place the history of the monastery, and then to dis-
cuss the events of the past fifty years in connexion
with it.
The convent was founded, it is said, by St. Lazarus
Knezes of Servia, and dedicated to St. Panteleemon
of Thessalonica. In the year 1169 it was given by
the authorities of Athos to certain Russian monks,
who had been living from the end of the eleventh
century in the Monastery of the Assumption, on the
east side of the promontory. After this it seems to
have changed hands several times, and to have been
occupied successively by Servians and Greeks. Up
to 1 765 the monastery was situated farther inland, at
a place called Xilourgon (though it was certainly called
Russico as early as the sixteenth century,'"' and probably
took that name in 1169) ; in the year 1765 the monks
moved nearer the sea, where they erected some new
buildings. The monastery was almost entirely rebuilt
' 1884.
^ See Belon, Les Observations de plusieurs Singulariiez, 1555.
RUSSIAN COLONIZATION OF ATIIOS 245
in 1S12 by Greek monks at the charges of CalHmaki,
Hospodar of Moldavia.
Probably at this time there were no Russians at all
in the monastery; Curzon, who was there in 1837,
does not seem to have come across any, and he men-
tions that the hegoumenos then ruled over 1 30 monks.
Now there are 800 attached to Russico, of whom
450 live within the walls, together with 150 servants,
and all are Russians, with the exception of a very few
Greek monks of the lowest and most ignorant type
and one or two Bulgarians.' This extraordinary change
requires some explanation. I will give my readers the
Greek account, of which they can believe as much as
they please. I will not vouch for its accuracy, but
from what we saw and heard at Russico I believe it
to be in the main facts true. My informant was a
well-known professor of the University of Athens
whom we met at Athos, and his story was corroborated
by the Greek monks.
In 1839 the Russians asked permission of Gerasi-
mus, the abbot of St. Panteleemon or Russico, to bring
eighteen Russian monks to the convent, promising in
writing that their number should never be increased
beyond fifty, the Greek monks numbering at that time
1 50 ; but afterwards, by means of bringing servants
from Russia and then making them monks, they in-
creased their numbers until in 1869 they had reached
400. By this time, having got simple old Gerasimus
completely into their power, they tore up the compro-
mising document limiting their numbers, and through
the abbot expelled all the monks who opposed their
' Amongst them we came across several retired officers from the
Russian army, still in the prime of life.
246 MOUNT ATHOS
schemes/ Eutropius, our guest master at Vatopedi,
being the last of the original Greek monks. Finally,
to make matters quite sure — for in cases of dispute such
as these an appeal lies to the Patriarch of Constanti-
nople (as has been more fully explained in a previous
chapter) — Macarius, the present abbot, bribed the
last Patriarch in 1876 to support the Russian interest
with 20,000 liras in hard cash and a cross worth
another 5,000, besides the little douceurs distributed
amongst certain of the Holy Synod of Constantinople
to make them 'vote straight' Altogether a very
pretty little business, not much to the credit of either
party. And, remember, I am giving the Greeks' ac-
count, and they would not be likely to invent stories
to their own discredit.
Having thus obtained a firm footing at Russico,
the Russians turned their attention to other parts of
the promontory, and in 1837 took a kelli on the site
of the Prophet Elias, turning it into the present skete.
The inhabitant of a kelli is, of course, only a life
tenant, and at his death the cottage and land revert to
the monastery, which relets it to another monk : in the
case of the Prophet Elias this ought to have occurred.
But the old house had been pulled down and a skete
' The Greeks have a grand story about Gerasimus's terrible fate, which
I will give as an example of the tales they told us concerning their enemies.
When this abbot died he was buried as usual and dug up, in the ordinary
course, at the end of three years. To the horror of the Russians the
corpse was entire ; for it is the universal superstition in this part of the
world that if a body is not decomposed its late owner has gone to a bad
place. .So they popped the old gentleman back again into the hole and
tried to keep the matter quiet. At the end of another three years they
again uprooted him, and again found him in his fonner condition. Then
they tried another spot of ground, thinking that the soil might be at
fault, but with no better result. At the time of our visit the Greeks
assured us that poor Gerasimus had just been buried for the fourth time !
RUSSIAN COLONIZATION OF ATHOS 247
created on its site. So the Russians established them-
selves in the possession of what is practically a monas-
tery ; for in a true skete the mother monastery appoints
the superior, but in this case the monks elect their
own ruler and are only theoretically dependent on the
mother house.
In precisely the same way was the Serai, or skete
of St. Andrew, founded out of a kelli belonging to
Vatopedi by a certain Russian monk named Bessarion,
who (so it is said) ingratiated himself with the monks
of that house by his good fellowship and merry dis-
position ; so that, completely thrown off their guard
by one whom they looked upon as a half-witted
buffoon, they never suspected any sinister designs
until they awoke one fine day to find that the Russian
fool had set up a monastery of his own.^
Besides these new foundations the Russians have
also endeavoured to possess themselves of Iveron, until
1830 entirely inhabited by Greeks, although in its
early days it was frequented by Iberians or Georgians.
In that year a Georgian monk called Benedictus
arrived with one servitor and took the cathisma of the
Prophet Elias from the monastery. In 1872 another
Benedictus arrived with two fellow-countrymen, took a
kelli, and afterwards, without the permission of the
convent, brought thirty-five other Georgians. Now
these Georgians in the interests of Russia, to whom
Georgia belongs, claim the monastery as their own by
reason of its foundation and name as against the 170
Greek inmates, but as yet unsuccessfully.
^ After the Gerasimus ^asco the Russians were not going to stand any
more nonsense from contumacious bodies, so they boiled Bessarion. —
Grcecia mendax.
248 MOUNT ATHOS
Lastly, the skete of St. Andrew having no port,
that community has been for some time endeavouring
to buy the arsenal of Stavroniketa ; and the Monastery
of Coutloumoussi is also greatly coveted by the Russians,
who have been bidding for it since 1863, But now the
original inhabitants of the Holy Mountain, being fully
roused, have entered into a solemn compact never
again to sell a foot of ground to the intruders ; and to
this resolution they have adhered, so that for the last
three years the Russians have not been able to buy
any land whatever, although they have offered enor-
mous prices for it — as much as 30,000 liras for a kelli
worth 2,000. Thus they are obliged to make the
most of what they have already, and consequently at
their two great stations, Russico and St. Andrew's,
they are hard at work with stones and mortar. Many
are the tales told of lights seen at night on the moun-
tain moving between these two communities, the
evidence of secret communications carried on under
the cover of darkness. The bitterness of feeling be-
tween the two parties rnay be imagined from the fact
that the Greeks attribute the frequent fires which have
taken place in their monasteries during the last fifty
years to Russian incendiaries. The real mainspring
of all these Russian plots is said to be not the abbot
Macarius, but a certain ghostly man (Tn^ev/xart/co?)
who lives in great retirement at Russico. To this
man the Russian pilgrims apply for spiritual if not
temporal advice, and he is accused of acquiring in-
fluence over them and of enhancing his reputation for
sanctity by the following means : Nearly all the pil-
grims pass through Constantinople, and during their
stay in that city are interviewed by this man's secret
RUSSIAN COLONIZATION OF ATIIOS 249
agents, who transmit to him the names of the pilgrims,
with certain particulars about each which they have
gained from them. On their arrival at Russico they
are introduced to this pnevmaticos, who, to their great
astonishment, enters at once into their family affairs.
* Ah, Ivan, how is your wife, Nadejda ? ' * And
you, Nicholaievitch, did you leave Katinka in good
health?' Thus, say the Greeks, has he acquired his
reputation as a prophet and one directly inspired by
God.
As I said before, I give these stories chiefly for the
sake of showing the bitterness of the struggle now
undoubtedly going on at Athos, though there is great
reason for believing that these tales are only exaggera-
tions of the truth. It is quite possible, and even
probable, that the Greeks are jealous of the greater
number of Russian than of Greek pilgrims to the
Holy Mountain (caused by the deeper religious feeling
that exists amongst the lower orders of Russians than
amongst the Greeks); — pilgrims who make the journey,
I believe, entirely from religious motives. Yet that the
Russian authorities both at home and at Athos are
scheming for important political ends I see no reason
to doubt ; but that munitions of war are being stored
up at Russico, as has been asserted, is very improbable,
and I saw nothing to confirm this statement.
I am no hater of Russia. On the contrary, I see
much to admire in a great Christian empire filled with
ambitious schemes, having for a backbone a vast
peasant class blindly devoted to their sovereign and
enthusiastically attached to their national Church. In
some respects I go further than the most zealous
Russophile, for I can even appreciate the Russian
250 MOUNT ATHOS
Government — in theory the only government worth the
name in Europe, though in practice enfeebled by the
worst of political diseases, widespread official corrup-
tion. This, with the licentious selfishness of the upper
classes, unworthy of their humbler countrymen, will be
the means of destroying the empire, if Providence
shall have decreed its destruction.
But no unprejudiced traveller in Russia or her
dependencies can fail to see that she is the enemy of
England, and that her thirst for territory gravely
threatens the peace not only of this country but of
Europe. There are statesmen and journalists who
tell us that we are all fools, frightened by a shadow,
and that Russia is the most peaceable and friendly
country in Europe. I hope it may be so, for I should
be glad to see England allied to a religious and
monarchical country such as Russia, if such an alliance
were possible. Russia may be working simply in the
interests of civilization and humanity. We shall see.
251
CHAPTER XVI.
He
Lodg'd in the abbey, where the reverend abbot
With all his convent honourably receiVd him. — Henry VIII.
On arriving at the port of Russico we bade our crew
farewell, taking care to place a mejidieh in the rough
palm of the devoted lover, to form a nest-egg for the
other twenty-four.
At the gate of the monastery we presented our
circular letter for transmission to the abbot, and were
then shown to our rooms, on the east side of the
convent. It being Saturday night the greater part of
the monks had gone to bed, including the abbot, who
sent word to this effect, adding that a monk would
represent him that evening and that he hoped to see
us after the liturgy in the morning. Accordingly
the guest- master, whose name was Heliodorus, soon
appeared, was very polite and civil, and arranged a
bedroom (with beds in it !) for us at the end of a long
passage, with a dining-room, in which Angelos slept,
opposite to it. Then he bade us good-night, and
leaving us in charge of an ignorant but honest Greek
monk called Conon, so took his departure.
Sunday, August f. We got up at seven o'clock.
The bells were still ringing as they had been when we
went to bed. Close to us was one of the churches, and
the monotonous chanting of the monks had soon lulled
252 MOUNT ATHOS
me to sleep, whilst the perfume of the incense came in
at the window and filled our bedchamber. When I
awoke the same chanting greeted my ears and the
same scent of incense pervaded the air. O — asserted
that both bells and chanting had been going on since
he went to bed, and of course he hadn't had a wink of
sleep — no, not the whole night through, &c. &c., his
usual complaint when it is time to get up in the
morning !
We reached the principal church (not the catholicon)
about eight o'clock, were taken to three stalls which
had been reserved for us next the iconostasis on the
south side, and remained there until nearly ten. This
church is a long narrow room at the top of the north
or highest side of the monastery, which is built on the
slope of the hill. Its walls are whitewashed, but on
them are several well- executed icons. The iconostasis
is rich, and above the holy doors is suspended a small
icon covered with pearls and diamonds ; the usual
stalls are round the walls. Here the service is always
in Slavonic, and the music the reformed Russian in
four parts. The quire was not very good, but, as the
monks had been singing the whole night, one must
excuse them for having been slightly out of tune.
Afterwards we paid a visit to the abbot Macarius.
He was sitting at the top of a long narrow room with
chairs all round it, on this occasion occupied by guests
and monks. Macarius is a fine-looking, middle-aged
man, with a long beard just beginning to grow grey ;
not unlike a Western abbot in his manners. The
expression of his countenance is shrewd, his presence
dignified, and his air commanding ; altogether the sort
of man one would expect to find at the head of the
RUSSICO — REFECTORY 253
1,600 Russian monks of the Holy Mountain, Over
his habit he wears a pectoral cross.
He rose to receive us and shook us warmly by the
hand, saying he was much pleased to see us. Glyko
and ' tchai ' were served, and we conversed, through two
interpreters, about the Anglican and Oriental Churches,
the monastery, and other kindred topics. However,
he could not stay long with us, as the monks required
his presence in the refectory; so courteously wishing
us good-bye he took his departure.
Heliodorus conducted us over a portion of the
monastery, and first of all to the refectory, which was
quite full of monks eating their dinner. About 300 of
them were thus engaged ; the rest, with some pilgrims,
were waiting outside till their turn should come. A
monk was reading from a pulpit some spiritual book
in Russian or Slavonic ; the abbot Macarius presided.
The food was very scanty, consisting only of a few
vegetables. All were provided with wooden spoons,
and the quietness with which these 300 monks ate
their food was most remarkable. After walking up
the gangway from end to end we left the hall and
went back to our own repast. The afternoon was
spent in visiting different parts of the monastery — the
room where they paint icons, the place where these
are stored up, and the little shop outside the walls
where they are sold.
We were taken to the burial ground, about twenty
yards square, and to its little church. It is just out-
side the monastery, at the south-east corner, and is
apparently a favourite place for profitable meditation ;
for from our windows we could see monks constantly
going up the little hill which leads to it. In the church
254 MOUNT ATHOS
are the bones of the monks whose three years in the
cemetery are over. On one side of the church are
long shelves of a considerable depth, clean and nicely
painted, and on tliese skulls of departed brethren are
neatly arranged, to the number, we were told, of 1,500.
On another side arm and leg bones are stacked, and
at the entrance stand two great boxes about half full
of the smaller bones, the lids being propped open and
perforated zinc let into the sides of the chests to air the
contents.
At seven o'clock the great service for the festival
of the Assumption began, which was to last until ten
the next morning. We went at eight to the upper
church, already mentioned, and stayed there two hours.
The singing was good, and the vestments of the clergy
very costly, most of the ministers being clad in red and
gold damask. On the head of the abbot Macarius
was a crown covered with enamels and blazing with
diamonds and other precious stones. Contrary to the
usual rather slovenly performance of the complicated
Oriental rites, everything was done in the most exact
manner, and went smoothly and with dignity. We
were especially struck with two deacons, fine tall men,
who wore albs of cloth of gold, over which their beards
descended in front and their long wavy hair behind.
Each with one hand supported on his left shoulder
an incense boat in the form of a silver-gilt church, and
in the other held a silver censer. And so they passed
slowly up and down the church, censing icons and
people, keeping time exactly both in their steps and in
the swinging of their censers. Close in front of us, in
a detached stall, stood an old Russian in the long black
coat and high boots of his nation. He was, we were
A RUSSIAN PILGRIM 255
told, a merchant of enormous wealth, though his coat
was rusty and all his garments threadbare, who, mind-
ful of that Scripture which warns the rich of the
difficulty of their salvation, had made this pilgrimage
to the Holy Mountain, there to pray, to fast, and to
do alms for the good of his soul. And, as far as
another can judge, he did pray indeed ! At every
service at which we were present there was this
ancient pilgrim in his stall, and on this particular
night during the whole of the fifteen hours he never
left the church, although his devotions were of the most
laborious kind. According to the Russian custom
he bowed and crossed himself almost continuously,
never allowing more than half a minute to elapse
without a lowly reverence and that holy sign, some-
times varied by a prostration on the floor, before which
exercise he would cross himself convulsively twelve
times in quick succession. Long before we left, the
perspiration was dropping from his forehead on to
the floor.
We returned to our room, added the Anglican
vespers to our devotions in church, and so to bed ;
but, as the soft breezes of the night wafted into our
chamber the perfume of the incense and the chanting
of the monks, I could not help pondering over the
old man keeping his vigil in the church above, and
how that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and
the violent take it by force.
Heliodorus came to us in the morning and con-
ducted us to the guests' dining-room, where breakfast
was prepared. Afterwards, although he had been up
all night, he insisted upon taking us to the library, a
separate building in the courtyard. It is in capital
256 MOUNT ATHOS
order, containing a great number of modern works
and about 500 MSS. on paper, with fifty on vellum,
none of any particular interest. There are twelve
Bulgarian MSS. Could these have come from St.
Paul's ? Amongst others was a small psalter of
Western origin — French or German, if I remember
aright. Matthew, the librarian, showed us the various
sections of subjects into which the modern books are
arranged, and said that they possessed a copy of one
of William Palmer's ^ works in Greek, but he could
not find it at that moment. As he said that the monks
here used their library — and indeed there were evi-
dences of the truth of his assertion — we left one of
the four Greek copies of the other William Palmer's
'History of the Church,' which Canon Curtis had given
to us to distribute at Athos.
We spent the day rather idly in preparation for
our work on the morrow, for we proposed to ride
back to Caryes and see the monasteries on that
side of the promontory which we had omitted. So
we wrote our diaries, and also a long inscription in
the visitors' book. After supper we took a short
walk, returning just as the gates were closing for
the night ; then developed several negatives and pre-
pared the slides for our journey to the east side of
Athos.
I have already given the history of Russico and
other particulars concerning the monastery ; it only
remains to insert a list of its churches.
' Of Magdalen College, Oxford.
RUSSICO — CHURCHES 257
Esocclesia.
1. The catholicon, dedicated to St. Panteleemon, containing
one paracclesia, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
2. St. Metrophanes.
3. The Protection of the Blessed Virgin.
4. St. Alexander Nevski.
5. The Holy Archangels.
6. St. Demetrius.
7. St. Sergius.
8. St. Nicholas.
9. St. Sabbas,
10. St. Charalampes.
11. The Prodromos.
12. All the Saints of the Holy Mountain.
13. St. Joachim and St. Anna.
14. The Presentation of the Blessed Virgia
15. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.
16. The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
17. All Saints.
18. SS. Constantine and Plelen.
19. The Ascension.
20. St. John the Divine.
Exocclesia.
1. The Holy Trinity.
2. St. Demetrius.
3. The Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Daimian.
4. St. Sabbas.
5. The Zooddchos Peeghee,
6. The Annunciation.
7. St. George (i).
8. St. George (2).
9. The Three Hierarchs^ Basil, Gregory, and Chrysostom.
10. St. Catharine.
11. St. Barbara.
12. The Forty Martyrs,
13. St. Gregory.
S
258 MOUNT ATHOS
Russico possesses one skete, dedicated to the
Blessed Virgin, containing twenty Bulgarians ; no
kellia or cathismata ; but I believe there are several
colonies of Russian monks belonging to Russico on
the promontory, though of what sort I am ignorant.
Tuesday, August -. Started at ten o'clock and
rode to Xeropotamou in about thirty-five minutes.
We were received at the gate by the epitropoi, and
soon provided with breakfast. The conversation
turned upon the old subject, the unity of the Church,
and these two presidents, by name Agathangelos and
Paul, with a certain archimandrite called Nathaniel,
were much interested in hearing about the Anglican
Church and in the exhibition of our ecclesiastical
photographs.
At breakfast we were given meat in the shape
of kebabs,^ the first flesh food we had tasted since
leaving Stavroniketa ; for whilst we were amongst the
idiorrhythmic convents on the east side of Athos the
great fast was going on, and on the west all the
monasteries are coenobite with the exception of this
house and Docheiariou. The meat looked suspiciously
like mule, but, as the good monks assured us that it
was the best mutton, we consumed it in faith. After-
wards, whilst the monks slept, we photographed the
courtyard and the outside of the convent, and then
roused some of them to take us over the place.
Xeropotamou is built over the side of a torrent
bed, dry in summer, whence the name of the monas-
' Kebabs are small pieces of lamb or mutton toasted over the fire on
a skewer. To prepare to perfection this most delicious of Oriental dishes
first place on your skewer a piece of meat, then a piece of fat, then meat
again, a kidney, meat, and so repeat the process until the skewer is full.
XEROPOTAMOU 259
tery. It is some little distance from the sea, above
the Bay of Daphne, which it overlooks. The north-
west side of the monastery has just been rebuilt — in
fact, it was not quite finished at the time of our visit —
and the rest, including the catholicon, was almost
entirely rebuilt about a hundred years ago on account
of its ruinous condition.
It is said to have been founded in the first half
of the fifth century after Christ by the Empress
Pulcheria, and therefore claims to be one of the oldest
foundations on the Holy Mountain. From some
cause it was apparently in a ruinous condition in the
tenth century, for it was restored in the reign of the
Emperor Romanus Lecapenus,^ and possibly under
his patronage, by a monk named Paul, who was the
son of Michael III. In the time of the Sultan Selim,
the second after the conqueror Mahomet II., the
monastery was burnt. It is said that the Forty
Martyrs of Sebaste, to whom the catholicon is dedi-
cated, appeared in a vision to the great Mohammedan
ruler, and told him that if, on an appeal from the
monks, he would rebuild the monastery, they would
help him in his wars against the Arabs. Selim.
obeyed, and not only rebuilt the monastery but also
remitted the head tax levied on its inhabitants. So
to this day the monks of Xeropotamou pay taxes for
their farms alone. Shortly afterwards it again fell
into decay, probably through the depredations of
pirates, and this time Alexander, voivode of Vallachia.
repaired it in 1600. At the end of the last century
the catholicon required rebuilding, which was done in
' The chrysobuU of the Emperor still exists.
S2
26o MOUNT ATHOS
1763, and at the time of the Greek revolution this un-
fortunate monastery was again ruined. Since then
it has been gradually repaired, and now presents a
flourishing aspect ; a wonderful example of vitality.
The catholicon, standing, as usual, in the middle of the
courtyard, is a fine church.^ There is a pronaos, and
two paracclesia, dedicated respectively to SS. Constan-
tine and Helen and the Taxiarchs, Michael and Gabriel.
On the iconostasis, to the right of the holy doors, is an
icon of the Forty Martyrs, before which six lamps are
suspended, constantly burning, according to the wish of
the Sultan Selim. The relics include a large portion
of the Holy Rood, of the shape given on page 222,
measuring 1 foot i inch in length and 6 inches across
the longest transverse piece. It is mounted in gold
set with precious stones, emeralds, and diamonds. At
the foot of the cross is the following inscription :
KbivcTTavTivov Ev(J)pocrvur)^ Kal t(ou TeKvo)v. Besides
this there are portions of the relics of the Forty
Martyrs and of St. Niphon. We were next shown a
patera said to have been presented by the Empress
Pulcheria. The material is probably of ivory, stained
green. It is carved in high relief, the figures, which
are beautifully executed, representing the Virgin and
Child surrounded by apostles and prophets. Two
curious properties are claimed for this cup — one that
water placed therein will boil in twenty-four hours ;
the other that if this water be drunk by any person
who has taken poison, or has been bitten by a snake,
* It measures 47 feet across the transepts and 35^ feet from icono-
stasis to west wall of nave. The narthex is large, measuring 28 feet from
east to west, and 57 feet from north to south. The sanctuary is 1 5 feet
across the chord of east apse ; from iconostasis to end of east apse, 15^
feet ; from north to south, including side chapels, 22h ^^^^-
XEROPOTAMOU — PULCIIERIA's PATERA 26 1
he will recover. We were assured that two years
ago a monk who had been bitten by a venomous ser-
pent was cured in this way. As it takes twenty-four
hours to procure the dose, a supply is kept ready to
hand in a bottle. We were anxious to make trial of
this water-boiling patera, but, as we were leaving in
an hour, the experiment would not have been satisfac-
tory, and when we returned to Xeropotamou some
days afterwards we had forgotten all about Pulcheria's
wonderful gift. We asked to be allowed to photograph
this interesting work of art, but the monks seemed to
be afraid that we should extract its boiling and curative
properties in the operation and objected to this being
done. The library contains about 300 manuscripts,
over 100 being on vellum, one of them a quarto of
the Gospels beautifully illuminated but much injured ;
there were no others of any particular interest. An
archimandrite of the monastery, lately deceased, has
left the monks all his modern books — a very mis-
cellaneous collection-j-which will form a nucleus for
a modern library if the monks take the trouble to
collect any more. Amongst these books were the
works of Voltaire.
Xeropotamou contains ninety monks and thirty
servants. About 1 50 people are fed by the convent
every day ; this number includes guests and hermits.
It possesses four kellia and five churches without the
walls — i.e. -
The Annunciation,
St Artemius,
St. Tryphon,
All Saints,
The Zooddchos Peeghee —
262 MOUNT ATHOS
and eight churches within the walls —
The catholicon, dedicated to the Forty Martyrs, containing the
two paracclesia above mentioned ;
The Prodromos ;
The Panaghia ;
The Holy Cross ;
St. George ;
St. Theodosius ;
The Holy Apostles ;
St. Demetrius.
When we had explored the monastery we took
glyko and coffee with our hosts, were by them escorted
to the gate, and then jumped into the saddle and rode
off to Caryes.
It took us about two hours to reach the metropolis
of Athos, the road rising to the top of the ridge or
backbone of the promontory by a rather steep ascent.
On our way we passed several parties, chiefly lay folk,
walking beside their mules, which were conveying
goods of various kinds to the Bay of Daphne, the chief
port of Athos, which lies below Xeropotamou, as has
been before mentioned. Occasionally we met hermits,
— some old, some young — with their gowns tucked up
for active exertion, each with his wallet to carry the
food distributed to them at the monasteries. After
crossing the ridge, which is thickly wooded, we caught
sight of the Strymonic Gulf, and descended rapidly to
Caryes through the luxuriant vegetation which clothes
the eastern side.
The streets of Caryes are narrow and the impedi-
ments to riding many, so that, after having been nearly
decapitated by the awnings and the network of ropes
with which they are suspended from house to house.
CARYES AND THE SERAI 263
we dismounted and proceeded on foot to our old
quarters, the town house of Vatopedi. But nobody
was here, and on the recommendation of several mo-
nastic loiterers we went to the Serai, or skete of St.
Andrew, the great Russian house just outside Caryes,
on the road to Vatopedi. The Russian monks received
us most hospitably, and allotted to our use a clean
bedroom well furnished in the European style, close
to a grand salon containing sofas, tables with table-
cloths, chairs with crochet chair-backs, &c., looking as
if it had been brought bodily with all its contents from
St. Petersburg.
We had an excellent dinner (though of course it
was maigre, as we were amongst coenobite monks),
retiring to rest about eleven o'clock ; and having had
a few skirmishes with the enemy, who was not, I am
glad to say, in force, we put up our levinges and slept
soundly after our hard's day's work.
We had sent word to Coutloumoussi that we pro-
posed to breakfast thare the next morning, this monas-
tery being situated at Caryes, like the Serai, only on the
opposite side of the town. So we started from the
Russian skete at half-past nine, and walked into Caryes
to explore the place at our leisure ; for when we were
last there the visit to the Holy Synod had taken up
all our time. Nearly all the shopkeepers are monks,
and everything seemed to be very dear except our old
friend the octopus, who might be seen in a dry and
withered state hanging up in every doorway, looking
very tough and nasty, loathsome reptile that he is !
If you, my dear reader, had lived on him for a fort-
night, then only would you be able to enter into our
feelings towards him. Before being cooked he must
264 MOUNT ATHOS
be treated in a peculiar way to make him tender. You
find a large flat stone — a paving stone is best — and
then taking up your octopus, you dash him down with
all your force on the stone. This must be repeated
forty times to prepare him for human teeth and diges-
tion.^
We did not buy anything, although we fixed upon
the things we wanted to purchase, and made our first
bids, just to show that time was no object to us and
that we could afford to wait until prices came down. It
is always difficult in the East to know the value of the
various goods, and whether octopus was 'quiet,' incense
' dull,' or felt hats 'lively ' I cannot say ; all I know is
that we were asked much more for the different articles
than we finally gave on another day.
Coutloumoussi is reached from Caryes by a narrow
lane. It presents a somewhat dirty and decayed ap-
pearance, and its inhabitants were not particularly
bright specimens of the monastic order. It was founded
by a Turk, the son of Aseddin, of the family of Cout-
loumoush, related to the Seljuk sultans. His mother,
Anna, was a Christian, and after her death in 1268 he
became a Christian at Constantinople, and was baptized
by the name of Constantine. He embraced monasticism
at Athos, and founded this monastery in the reign of
Andronicus II. (1282-1328).''^ Constantine narrowly
escaped being sultan of Iconium. John Comnenus
puts the foundation of the monastery 200 years earlier,
in the reign of Alexius Comnenus, and says that it was
destroyed by 'the Pope of Rome.' He does not, how-
' HoXvTrous TvnTtrai ttoWukiv npos to neircov yevta-dai. — Suidos,
'"■ In 1334 the monastery of Philadelphia was incorporated with
Coutloumoussi.
COUTLOUMOUSSI 265
ever, endeavour to explain the curious Turkish name,
and is almost certainly wrong. The monastery has
been restored at various times by Neagulus, Hospodar
of Vallachia, and the voivodes Radulas, Myrtzas, and
Vintilas. In Curzon's time the buildings were in good
repair, and he describes them as being the most regular
on Mount Athos, but adds that they were almost unin-
habited. In 1845 a fire destroyed a great part of it ; in
1875 another conflagration ravaged it again, and this
time the catholicon only just escaped. Consequently
one side of the court is still in ruins, it never having been
completely rebuilt since the catastrophe of 1845. We
were told that the restoration was to commence next
year. The library contains 500 manuscripts, ninety-
five being on vellum. Owing to the entire absence of
catalogfue or order we were unable to find much of
interest during our short visit. There was one uncial
evangelistarium with one leaf missing (replaced), several
other manuscripts of the Gospels and of the Psalter with
illuminations. The monastery is coenobite, it having
tried the idiorrhythmic rule for a time (according to
Mr. Tozer, who saw it under both governments),
but having returned to the old form, as being better.
It now contains eighty monks and fifteen servants,
ruled over by an abbot, eighty years of age, by name
Joseph. He has been a monk for sixty years and
abbot for thirty. By reason of his rheumatism and
other infirmities he cannot leave his room, so that
we were entertained by his lieutenant, whose name was
Chariton,
Coutloumoussi possesses a few farms in Thasos and
Macedonia and the following churches :
266 MOT^NT ATHOS
Esocclesia.
1. The catholicon, dedicated to the Transfiguration, containing
one paracclesi, the Panaghia.
2. SS. Basil, Gregory, and Chrysostom.
3. The Holy Unmercenaries.
4. The Archangels.
5. The Panaghia.
1. St. Nicholas.
2. St. Tryphon.
Exocclesia.
It has one skete, dedicated to St. Panteleemon, and
twenty kellia.
There is nothing particular about the catholicon,^
either in the building or its contents. The diaconicon
and chapel of the prothesis are almost circular chapels,
at the north-east and south-east corners of the church.
There are a narthex, a pronaos, and a paracclesi of
the Blessed Virgin on the north side of the narthex. No
relics or treasures of any importance, so the monks told
us, although I find from John Comnenus that the church
formerly boasted of the head of St. Alypius the Stylite,
the hand of St. Eustratius, a portion of the True Cross
kept in a reliquary of silver gilt, and the foot of St.
Anne, ' the Ancestress of God ' {OeoTrpoixTJTcop), as her
Greek title runs. Surely the latter relic cannot have
been lost ? But perhaps the monks were suspicious
of us, and feared that, like too many Englishmen, we
only asked after the relics to scoff at them.
Our breakfast proved anything but a success,
although we had given the monks the minutest injunc-
tions how to cook it.
' It measures 12 J feet across the chord of east apse, 12 J feet from
iconostasis across the sanctuary to east wall of apse ; from iconostasis
to west wall of nave, 28 feet ; across transepts, 43^ feet.
FLAVOURING THE SOUP 267
* Mind,' said we, * there are two things that we
EnofHshmen never eat. We never touch oil and we
never touch butter. We are aware this is a curious
custom of ours, but we are Franks, you know, and all
Franks have odd tastes.' So the cook promised
faithfully that he would carry out our wishes.
When the soup made its appearance we tasted it
and put down our spoons in disgust.
* There is oil in it,' said I.
' Of course there is,' said O — . * How very pro-
voking ! '
'No,' said the attendant monks, ' there is no oil in
the soup.'
' Then if it's not oil it's butter,' replied we ; ' anyhow
it's uneatable.'
But the monks stoutly denied that there was either
oil or butter in the compound, and at last the cook was
called up and strictly interrogated.
' Oh, no,' said he ; ' the soup was made with neither
butter nor oil, but when it was done it was so tasteless
that I put a little — such a very little — butter into it, just
to flavour it.'
' Why couldn't you do as you were told ? ' said O —
in the best English; 'as it is you have just spoiled
our breakfast.'
And so it turned out. Every dish \\-aAjust a little
rancid butter in it and had to be sent away. However
our hosts gave us some good wine and some coffee,
and we tried to make ourselves as agreeable as possible
to them under the circumstances.
After this delectable meal we had a curious example
of the state of the medical science at Mount Athos.
Angelos, who had been suffering all the morning
268 MOUNT ATHOS
from earache, asked the monks if they could help his
case. So away went some of them to fetch the doctor,
who was nothing more than one of the community, an
old monk with a long grey beard. He peeped first
into one and then into the other of our dragoman's
ears and departed for his drug. He returned with a
small bottle of rather thick yellow oil, a stout twig, and
a lump of cotton wool.
* What kind of oil is that ? ' we inquired.
* Oh, it's rat oil/ said Angelos, * capital stuff. We
always use it in Greece.'
* Rat oil ? ' said O — , always eager to acquire
the latest scientific knowledge, * rat oil ? How is it
made ? '
* Why,' replied the leech, 'it is a very simple
remedy, and quite easy to make. You take a young
rat from the nest — when it is just born and pink, you
know — and you put it into a bottle of oil and place it
in the sun. At the end of a few weeks you will find
the rat quite gone, dissolved in the oil. Then you
cork up the bottle and keep the oil for use.'
' Good heavens, Angelos ! ' cried O — in alarm,
* you are surely not going to put that stuff into your ear ?*
* Of course I am,' replied Angelos ; * everybody
knows how good rat oil is. It is a well-known remedy
not only for earache but for all sorts and kinds of
diseases.'
So saying he held up his right ear for the dressing,
and the old monk began pouring the oil into it and
stirring it about inside with the twig, and afterwards
plugged up the orifice with a large piece of wool. Then
came the turn of the other ear, and that was treated in
the same way.
ATHOS LEECHCRAFT 269
Angelos declared he felt better already, and ex-
pressed his pleasure at having fallen in with a doctor
that knew his business.
' Well,' said O — , ' if science teaches me anything
your ear will be much worse to-morrow. I can't think
how you can be so foolish as to put filth of that sort
into it.'
But Angelos would not hear anything against the
treatment, and we began to talk to the old man about
his art. He appeared to have quite a practice in the
monastery and neighbourhood.
We asked him what he could cure. ' Supposing I
were to break my leg,' said I, ' could you mend it for
me?'
No, the old leech didn't think he could manage
that. Anything in a small way he would undertake —
headaches, or earaches, or toothaches, or stomachaches ;
oh yes ! he was a wonderful hand at such complaints
and knew of all sorts of sovereign remedies for them.
But a broken bone— luo, that was a serious matter ; he
didn't think he could undertake that.
So we joked and gossiped till it was time to depart.
On our way through Caryes we made inquiries for
a certain Gregory the son of Demetrius, who we had
been told was the best worker in inlaid woods on the
promontory. The old art of inlaying in ivory, mother-
of-pearl, and tortoiseshell has completely died out at
Athos — if indeed it ever existed, as I suspect the
splendid inlaid work of this kind which one sees in all
the churches here came from farther east — but there
is still excellent work done in wood inlay. Beautiful
modern doors of this kind in various monasteries had
frequently excited my cupidity, and on my asking who
270 MOUNT ATIIOS
made such doors the answer was invariably the same
— ' Gregory the son of Demetrius.*
We hunted high and low for the said Gregory, and
at last ran him to earth in the new Vatopedi house, where
he was engaged in the carpentry work. He brought
us to his own little house in the town, a pretty vine-
clad cottage overlooking the street, and there we
struck a bargain with him to make a door for a little
chapel in a house I was building in London. He
was to make it and transport it to the consulate at
Salonica, and was then to receive fourteen liras (Turkish
pounds, worth about i Ss.) in addition to the five liras
which I advanced to pay for the woods necessary for
the work. Gregory went back with us to the Serai,
and a contract was drawn up, which he sealed.
I left him perfect liberty to design the door as he
pleased, and when it arrived in England at the expira-
tion of about six months it thoroughly justified the
trust I had reposed in him. I had feared that it would
have been rather rococo in style, for the old Byzantine
forms have been largely influenced by this corrupt Italian
period ; but, on the contrary, it proved to be as chaste
in design as excellent in execution, and when Gregory
pleaded, in a most touching letter, for a present,
I gladly sent him an additional five liras as a
reward for his honesty and skill. Gregory the son of
Demetrius was an Albanian by birth, and had come
to reside on Athos, though not, I believe, permanently.
He could not speak or write Greek correctly ; in fact,
he could only read or write with difficulty
We had a capital dinner this evening at seven
o'clock, and chatted with our hosts till nine, when they
went to bed. We were not long in following their
example.
271
CHAPTER XVII.
To-day you may be alive, dear man,
Worth many a thousand pound ;
To-morrow you may be dead, dear man.
And your body be laid underground.
With one turf at your head, O man,
And another at your feet.
Thy good deeds and thy bad, O man.
Will all together meet. — Old Carol.
Thursday y August % No Angelos appeared this
morning to prepare our bath as usual, and so soon as
I had dressed I hastened to his room to discover the
reason. Here I found him groaning on his bed, unable
to eat or drink or lif^ his head from the pillow. We
had intended to ride to Caracalla to-day, biit I saw
clearly that we should have to give it up under
the circumstances, and I returned to O — and told him
how matters stood,
' Of course,' said he ; 'it is exactly what I knew
would happen. If a fellow will put putrid rat into his
ears what can he expect ? '
So we had breakfast and about noon sallied forth
towards the town. First we went to the post office,
where by good luck the postmaster spoke French and
several other languages besides. We sat and talked
to him for more than an hour, smoked his cigarettes,
and consumed rahatlakoum and coffee. He was a
2/2 MOUNT ATHOS
very intelligent young Greek who bad been sent here
from Constantinople to take charge of the post station,
and very dull he found it.
' I have not a soul to speak to,' he complained ;
* there are no educated people in Caryes except a few-
monks, and I soon get tired of them. And no women
of any kind. Ah, cest affreux, messieurs, cest affreux ! '
And the poor fellow begged us to sit and talk to him
a little longer. This we did, and amused ourselves
by sending a telegram to the telegraph clerk at
Salonica, wishing him a very good day, a wire having
been recently laid from that place to Caryes.
* For,' said our friend, * we may just as well use
it, for nobody else does. Perhaps fifty telegrams
are sent in the course of a year, chiefly about the
steamers which call here, for who would want to tele-
graph to Athos ? So when I feel very dull I just ring
up the clerk at Salonica and ask how the world is
going on.'
We laughed at his troubles, telling him that it was
a capital thing for him, because there was no chance
of his getting into mischief at Caryes, and went away
feeling that our forced stay had at least been the means
of giving a little pleasure to somebody.
We walked back towards St. Andrew's, visiting the
Protaton.or chief church of Caryes, on our way. Finding
it closed, we sat down on the shady side of it to rest,
as it was very hot. Presently a monk arrived, who
explained to us, with some difficulty, that the church
would soon be opened ; this shortly occurred and we
were admitted.
It is dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady, and
is one of the most curious churches on Mount Athos,
THE PROTATON 273
unlike any of the others, and is probably the most
ancient. Comnenus says that it was founded by
Constantine the Great and burnt down by Juliart the
Apostate. But the connexion of the first Christian
emperor with Athos rests entirely upon vague tradi-
tions.
The ground plan is as nearly as possible a parallelo-
gram, there being only internal transepts, of which the
chapel of the prothesis and the diaconicon are continua-
tions in the same line farther east, and into which they
open by the usual doors in the iconostasis ; this is carried
straight across the church. A slightly pointed arch of
22^ feet span divides the quasi-transept on each side
from the nave ; between these transepts there is no
central dome, as is universally the case in the other
Athos churches, but the whole building is covered like
a basilica with a flat wooden roof, beneath which are
quasi-clerestory windows. The width of the church is
50 feet ; the extreme length (not including a division
at the west end whicl\ may be considered either as an
exonarthex or a pronaos) is 63-J feet, of which 22I
feet is the length of bema from iconostasis to east wall
of apse. The sanctuary is 22 feet across, not including
the side chapels, which are each 14 feet from north to
south and make up the breadth of the parallelogram,
50 feet. The 41 J feet which is the length of the church
west of the iconostasis is divided into two almost equal
portions of nave and narthex. As has been said before
there is a pronaos, or exonarthex, on the west ; there is
a similar excrescence on the north side of the church,
between the west end and the false north transept, and
here is the principal entrance. The present iconostasis
is placed about one foot in front of the old marble one.
T
2 74 MOUNT ATHOS
In the east apse is what was formerly the synthronos,
or bishop's seat. It is now used as a support for an
icon. On the north side of the church (if I remember
aright, under the arch of the north transept) is a picture
ascribed to St. Luke. It had an immense number of
candles before it and a canopy like an umbrella over
it. The monks who were our guides showed it the
greatest reverence by innumerable prostrations.
Not only will this building interest the architect and
antiquary, but the student of art will find it the best place
for studying the Athos frescoes, for here they have
been apparently untouched (though much injured by
age and damp), and there is but little doubt that many
of them are the work of the great master Manuel
Panselenus, of Thessalonica : one in particular, repre-
senting the infant Saviour, is of great merit ; it is to be
found on the west wall of the church. This painter is
believed to have flourished in the twelfth century, in
the reign of Andronicus I., and thus to have lived long
before Cimabue and Giotto. The Italian artists are
said to have learned from the Greeks, and Giunta
Pisano was the pupil of an unknown Byzantine artist
in I2IO. Possibly this famous Athos painter may have
contributed to the revival of the art in Western Europe ;
at any rate he was the founder of the school of painting
which has existed, in unbroken descent, though feebly,
to the present day. His name nap(TeXr)vos is said
to have been given him because he was compared, on
account of his brilliant talents, to the moon in all her
splendour. Many of the frescoes attributed to him
may be the work of his immediate pupils. As his
school of painting decayed, and all invention perished,
the monks of Mount Athos became copyists instead of
SCHOOL OF PAINTING 275
painters, and so servile were they that definite in-
structions on the most minute points were handed
down in writing from generation to generation, giving
exact directions as to how each saint and subject
should be portrayed.
Didron,^ visiting Mount Athos about 1840, found
monks thus painting by absolute rule, and he has trans-
lated the book by which these artists worked.^ There
are now signs of the approaching annihilation of the
native school that has existed in this odd way for so
many centuries, for Russian influence is grafting modern
European art on the old stock ; a process which, far
from revivifying it, is raising a strange and unpleasing
hybrid.
According to the old rules, before mixing his colours
the painter was directed to fall on his knees and recite
the following prayer :
O Lord Jesu Christ, our God, Who wast endowed with a Divine
and incomprehensible nature^ Who didst take a Body in the womb
of the Virgin Mary for the salvation of mankind, and didst deign to
limn the sacred character of Thy immortal Face, and to impress it
upon a holy veil, which served to cure the sickness of the satrap
Abgarus and to enlighten his soul with the knowledge of the True
God ; Thou Who didst illuminate with Thy Holy Spirit Thy Divine
Apostle and Evangelist Luke, that he might represent the beauty of
Thy most pure Mother, who carried Thee, a tiny Infant, in her arms
and said, ' The Grace of Him Who is born of me is poured out upon
men : ' Do Thou, Divine Master of all that exists, do Thou enlighten
and direct the soul and heart and spirit of Thy servant N — ; guide
his hands that he may be enabled worthily and perfectly to represent
Thy image, that of Thy most holy Mother, and those of all the Saints
for the glory, the joy, and the embellishment of Thy most holy
See his Manuel d''Iconographie Chr^lienne, 1845.
'Epiir]V(ia rrjs fo)ypa0t«^y.
T 2
276 MOUNT ATHOS
Church. Pardon the sins of all those who shall venerate these icons,
and of those who, piously casting themselves on their knees before
them, shall render honour to the models which are in the heavens.
Save them, I beseech Thee, from every evil influence, and instruct
them by good counsels, through the intercessions of Thy most holy
Mother, of the illustrious Apostle and Evangelist St. Luke, and of all
Thy Saints. Amen.
Attached to the Protaton is a library containing-
eighty MSS., forty of which are on vellum, several
being of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, and
one, a book of the Gospels, of so early a date as the
seventh. We returned to St. Andrew's and found
Angelos still very ill and very humble and submissive.
Would we doctor him and give him something out of
our medicine chest ? But, alas ! we had no remedies
for his complaint, though I ran through our list of
drugs — rhubarb pills, blue pills, opium pills, arnica,
chlorodyne, sal volatile, ginger, quinine, mustard
plasters ; no, there was nothing that could by any
possibility cure earache ! But our unfortunate drago-
man implored us for something ; he was sure it would
do him good, whatever it was, so long as it was
medicine. So we finally gave him an opium pill from
a supply we had brought in case of cholera (which was
very prevalent in the East in 1883), thinking it could
not do him any harm and might send him to sleep;
and then ordered hot onions to be applied to his ears,
a good old-fashioned remedy for earache which I
suddenly remembered.
I was getting really alarmed about him, for O — ,
whom I always regard as the representative of science,
commenced the most gloomy forebodings, giving it
as his opinion that he had an abscess in his ear.
THE SERAI I']']
that naturally enough the rat had disagreed with
it, and that the probable result would be blood-
poisoning.
This afternoon we photographed the Serai. As
usual, after we had clambered over walls and through
hedges, and had gained a position whence we thought
the best view was obtainable, we discovered to our
chagrin that on walking quietly back to the skete by
the road there was an infinitely better view to be had,
taking in the whole of the buildings.
Afterwards we went to vespers, which was followed
by some sort of service for the dead, but of what kind
we could not exactly discover, and Angelos being
hors de combat, and the monks talking nothing but
Russian, we could not inquire. In the middle of the
church, on a table, were placed a candlestick holding
three candles, and a plate of boiled rice, with a cross
marked over it, with raisins and a candle stuck in the
middle. We all had little tapers given to us, which at
a certain point in the service we lighted one from
another. Three or four priests and two deacons with
censers stood round the table, and each in turn read
through long lists of names, which they evidently were
not well acquainted with, as they stumbled over them
and hesitated dreadfully, and had to be prompted by a
monk who was in the next stall to us. This service
lasted for about an hour, when we all put out our tapers
and departed.
A monk named Philemon, who was in priest's
orders, took us over the skete. This man would come
and sit with us in our grand salon continually, and
would talk to us in Russian for an hour together,
although he knew we could not understand a word of
278 MOUNT ATHOS
what he said. He seemed to us to be a particularly
good specimen of the monastic order. There are
some faces which unmistakably bear the impress of
piety ; such a countenance had the priest Philemon.
He was somewhat beyond middle age and looked
rather delicate, almost consumptive. Apparently he
was in some authority in the skete, and although he
was a simple and, I should say, unlearned man (though
it was difficult for us to judge under the circumstances)
yet he was more refined in manner than the majority
of his brethren.
The Serai or skete of St. Andrew contains 230
monks and sixty servants, who, as in all sketes, follow
the coenobite rule. The name of the superior is
Theodoretus. It has no land except the garden
round it, and theoretically belongs to, or is dependent
on, Vatopedi. Nevertheless it is apparently of great
wealth, so that there is not much doubt as to where the
money comes from.
It was founded, I believe, in 1849. I have already
given all I know about its origin.^
Esocclesia.
1. St. Andrew.
2. The Panaghia.
3. Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Exocclesia.
1. All Saints of the Holy Mountain.
2. St. Nicholas.
The principal existing church (the foundation of
the new central church has just been begun) is of the
orthodox Russian pattern, built, like a Western church,
'P. 247.
THE SERAI RELIC OF ST. ANDREW 279
with an elongated nave ; not, as a Greek church, in the
form of a cross with equal limbs. It presents nothing
of interest. The principal relic is the head (or portion
of the head) of St. Andrew the Apostle. This was
originally at Pantocratoros ; how the Russians obtained
the relic, and whether they have possessed themselves
of the whole or only a part of what was at the Greek
monastery, I am unable to say, as I did not obtain
information at Pantocratoros. It is contained in a
magnificent silver-gilt shrine with a canopy over it, of
modern Russian workmanship. As this receptacle is
of full size, one supposes at first sight that the monks
claim the entire body of the Apostle ; this, however, is
not the case. The custom of placing a portion of a
relic in a reliquary large enough to contain the whole
frequently gives rise to mistakes on the part of
travellers. As, for instance, you may see two silver
skulls, each said roughly to contain the head of the
same saint. On inquiry you will find that they each
inclose only a small part of it, perhaps only just the
piece that you see through the little opening in the
silver skull.
Philemon took us first to the refectory, where the
monks were having their supper. It is a miserably
low, dark room, little better than a cellar. A new
refectory is being built. Then we went to view the
foundations of the great church, and afterwards were
taken to the cemetery. Here we observed several
holes somewhat resembling shallow graves, and so
guessed that they had been uprooting some dead
monks, which we presently found to be the case, as
we came upon some pieces of the garments in which
they had been buried and two or three locks of hair.
28o MOUNT ATHOS
A friend of mine who recently visited Mount
Athos was shown some newly dug-iip skeletons,
those of the cosmicoi, or laymen, being yellow and
discoloured, whilst those of the monks were white and
glistening. * See,' said his attendant monk, * see the
effect of prayer.'
In the cemetery chapel the skulls of the deceased
were neatly piled in rows, all labelled with the names
and ages of their owners and the dates of their deaths.
Some were placed in little wooden boxes with lids ;
one of these skulls Philemon took out of its re-
ceptacle and handled lovingly. He gave us to under-
stand that it belonged to a great friend of his, who
had died three years back ; and there upon the
bleached forehead was written his name. The good
priest heaved a little sigh, put the skull back into its
box, crossed himself, and led us out of the chapel.
Barbarous are these bone houses, perhaps, but yet
they have their uses. It is the fashion to labour to
forget death and to live as much as possible in the
present ; but to call before our eyes our own death-
beds each time we hear a passing bell, to cultivate
the thought of our own dissolutions whenever we hear
of a friend's departure or look upon a sepulchre — these
are not dangerous and morbid exercises, but rather
pious and laudable customs, full of possible profit to
that part of us which is immortal. And when we
cast our eyes around such a charnel house as I have
described, and are tempted, as we gaze upon the
mouldering remains of poor mortality, to cry out with
the prophet, * O tu quid fecisti Adam ! O thou
Adam, what hast thou done ! for though it was thou
that sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but we all that
THE SERAI* 281
come of thee;' and with a horrible dread to add,
* For what profit is it unto us if there be promised us
an immortal time, whereas we have done the works
that bring death ? ' the answer of the Archangel will
banish all vain lamentations and infuse into our quaking
hearts fresh courage and fresh hope. ' This is the
condition of the battle which man, that is born upon
the earth, shall fight : that if he be overcome he shall
suffer as thou hast said, but if he get the victory he
shall receive life. Choose thee life, that thou mayest
live.'
We dined this evening, as usual, with a few of the
chief monks, the principal dish being cutlets of pink
caviar, which I commend to epicures.
Our hosts were most hospitable, and in addition to
the decanter of wine — and good wine too — which was
placed before each person insisted upon our drinking
a fresh supply. As we could not talk to them we
tried to make ourselves agreeable in other ways, and
proposed the healfeli of the Czar, which was drunk
with much monastic enthusiasm. After dinner we
received in our salon, and three or four monks, includ-
ing Philemon, came and talked to us until we went to
bed.
Friday, August ^\ Angelos better, to my relief ;
so we determined to push on to Caracalla. He was
able to go with us to the bazaar at Caryes to help us
make a few bargains. We bought some Eucharistic
bread stamps, and chose from a number of copper
plates, curiously engraved by native talent with icons
and other sacred subjects, such as we wished to have
prints from, ordering them to be ready for us in a fort-
night's time, when we calculated we should be passing
282 MOUNT ATHOS
through the little metropolis again, before our depar-
ture from the promontory. These prints were exactly
similar in execution to those rude representations of
the monasteries given to us on leaving each as sou-
venirs. Meanwhile Angelos had the good fortune to
fall in with some sort of lay doctor ; perhaps he was
the Athenian maintained by Vatopedi. He prescribed
an application of oil and laudanum for his ears, and
Angelos managed to get the laudanum from a monk
who kept a chandler's shop. Before we left Caryes we
attempted to take a photograph of the one street which
forms the bazaar. This naturally caused a prodigious
commotion, and a crowd immediately collected in front
of the eye of the camera. Of course when they dis-
covered what our machine was, and it was noised
abroad that in some vague way they were going to have
their portraits taken, everybody within eyesight or
hailino- distance rushed to the scene of action. So we
made Angelos harangue the assembly and tell them
that unless they gave the poor camera fair play nobody
would have his picture painted, but if they M'^ould im-
plicitly obey the Frank's instructions he held out good
hopes that the likenesses of the majority of them would
get into that box and be forwarded to England. So
whilst O — manipulated the lens I walked some little
distance down the bazaar, marshalling the crowd into
two lines on each side, thus leaving a way clear down
the centre to the camera. Angelos hushed the crowd
for an instant, O — whipped off the cap of the lens,
and the view, such as it was, was taken. Here is the
engraving of it ; it is at least a collection of types of
countenances, monastic and lay.
We returned to the Serai, and having packed up
THE SERAI 283
our baggage took a farewell cup of * tchai ' in our
salon. Some interesting conversation was going on
between Philemon and Angelos, the former speaking
very seriously and earnestly, the latter pooh-poohing
him and evidently giving vent to scoffs, at which the
good priest looked so pained and troubled that I could
not help inquiring what was the subject. ' Oh,' said
Angelos, * this foolish old monk is trying to persuade
HIGH STREET, CARVES.
me to go to Caracalla by way of Iveron, to pray there
before the icon of the Portaitissa to get my earache
cured ; but I am not so ignorant as the stupid monks,
and I am telling him that at Athens we are giving up
all that sort of thing.'
Here Philemon turned round to me and in his
simple way appealed to me in Russian. I requested
to have his words translated.
284 MOUNT ATHOS
He was asking me if I did not think it worth
Angelos's while to go to Iveron. * It is almost on his
way,' said he ; * it will not take him more than half an
hour to go there and back, and he will return cured of
his earache. Surely it is well worth his spending
another half-hour on his journey for the sake of getting
rid of his pain/
I was much struck with the absolute confidence of
the man. Clearly he could not understand anyone dis-
believing the miracle which he was convinced would be
worked. It was the case of Naaman over again. If
Angelos went there he would be cured ; there was no
doubt about it. Surely he would not be so foolish as
to refuse to go to be relieved ? But, alas ! I knew
more of the world than Philemon, and so I said gravely
to our dragoman —
' No, Angelos, we will not diverge from our road ;
there is no manner of use in your going to Iveron : ^071
will never get cured.'
' Tell the good priest,' added I, * that I say no
prayer is answered, no miracle is worked, without faith,
and that you acknowledge that you have no faith, so
that it is waste of time for you to go to the Portaitissa.'
And when Philemon heard my reply he turned round
to me and sorrowfully signed his assent. * Surely,' I
hear my reader say, * surely you do not believe that
anyone could be cured by such means under any
circumstances ; it only proves how grossly superstitious
the monks are ; ' and my answer is, ' Yes, I do believe
it.' Have you ever thought how difficult it is to fix the
point where true religion ends and superstition begins ?
Not that I wish to deny that there was a leaven of
FAITH 285
superstition in Philemon's advice ; that may be so ; ^
but I know there was more faith in it than you or I
have ever had, or ever will have, thanks to the at-
mosphere in which we live. Call it childish faith if you
will ; it is the sort of faith that God loves to answer.
Because we have been blinded to supernatural things
by modern enlightenment, shall we be angry that a
poor monk still feels the hand of God in his ? Surely
as Christian men we dare not deny that miracles may
be, and sometimes are, obtained by prayer. Listen to
a little story.
There was an old woman who lived in a cottage
at the bottom of a hill, and a good old woman too ;
for, although the hill was steep and her legs had seen
their best days, she never omitted to go on Sundays
to her chapel, which lay on the other side of it. One
day the minister "she sat under preached a sermon on
prayer, taking for his text the words, ' If ye shall say
unto this mountain. Be thou removed and be thou
cast into the sea,»it shall be done.' The discourse
made a great impression upon this ancient dame ; for
she could not help thinking how nice it would be if the
hill between her and her chapel were done away with,
and how it would save her old legs. So before she
went to bed that night she included in her prayers a
petition that the hill might be removed and cast some-
where on the other side of her garden.
^ I have heard of three other cases of Oriental superstition, so much
resembling the one in question that I cannot help alluding to them.
One was the restoration to life of a dead man on accidental contact with
the relics of a saint ; the second, the cure of sickness by the shadow of a
holy man ; the third, a similar case of recovery by contact with the
garments of a saint. The cures in two at least of these cases are well
authenticated (2 Kings xiv. 21 ; Acts v. 15, xix. 12).
286 MOUNT ATHOS
Next morning she rose, went to her window, and
looked out ; and there sure enough was the obnoxious
hill, looking as big and as steep as ever.
' Ah ! ' cried the old woman as she shook her fist
at the offending obstacle, ' / ihotight yotUd still be
there I '
287
CHAPTER XVIII.
She was the purest Virgin,
And the cleanest from sin ;
She was the handmaid of our Lord
And Mother of our King.
The Carnal and the Crane.
During the conversation related in the preceding-
chapter the caimacan, or Turkish governor, arrived to
call on us, and fresh cups of tea were ordered. Un-
fortunately he could only speak Turkish, and, as there
happened to be no one present who understood that
language, we were unable to exchange any remark, so
drank our tea in silence, mutually admiring each other.
All this took a long time, for the caimacan had a nice
cool room to sit in aod some refreshing tchai ; and what
were minutes and hours to him .'* He had nothing
better to do, whilst we, on the contrary, were very
anxious to get to our destination before nightfall, but
of course could not with any courtesy leave our guest ;
so we had to wait until the governor rose, when we
exchanged salaams and departed.
As we passed through the gate we met a bishop
coming in. He was introduced to us as the Lord
Nilos, and he spoke French fluently. We had no
time to improve our acquaintance then, but we met
him again afterwards, as I shall relate. Two horses
with European saddles had been provided for us for
the first time on Athos. We mounted, and at four
2 88 MOUNT ATHOS
o'clock were actually on the march. We rode through
Caryes, a piece of presumption at which our muleteer
was perfectly appalled, it being a crime visited with
the utmost rigour of the law ; but, as the afternoon
was hot, instead of ignominiously tramping beside our
steeds, we preferred to exercise our privileges as the
distinguished persons we were, friends of the CEcu-
menical Patriarch and Holy Synod, not to mention the
caimacan ! On our way a Turkish official ran up to us
and seizing our hands saluted them with his forehead
and lips in the orthodox manner. What the poor
man wanted I cannot say ; perhaps backsheesh (which
he did not get) ; perhaps he was overcome by the
magnificent spectacle of the illustrious Englishmen
riding through those sacred streets.
We descended to Iveron (which we did pass after
all) in two hours and a half, crossing the most lovely
country on our way, pretty little glens and valleys and
hill slopes, all covered with arbutus and olives and vines
and forest trees, enlivened by the charming little monas-
tic retreats dotted over the smiling landscape, white and
trim, with their picturesque verandahs and tiny chapels
with domes of rough-hewn stones. There before us
was the sparkling sea, and the islands beyond rising
out of the waters ; behind us the great mountain ridge
we were descending, ever increasing in height towards
the south until the great marble peak suddenly shot up
far above the pine trees, and catching the setting sun
showed itself clear and distinct in rosy whiteness
against the evening sky.
By the time we reached Iveron it was getting dark,
and some of the monks, who were sitting outside in
their kiosk, enjoying the cool breezes from the sea,
ARRIVAL AT CARACAL LA 289
tried to persuade us to stay the night at their house ;
but, as we had already lost a day at St. Andrew's, we
feared to yield to their temptation, and passing the
marble portico of the monastery without dismounting
gained the shore.
Our road now lay along the sea, sometimes on the
very shore itself, sometimes rising a little distance
above it and winding round the corners of the project-
ing rocks. Twilight is of short duration in these
countries, and it soon began to get really dark, and
the horses, not so sure-footed as the mules, stumbled
painfully over the uneven path. Angelos too delayed
us considerably. He had begun a new method of
treatment for his complaint, and by putting on every
coat and waistcoat he possessed, one over the other,
and a thick pilot coat over all, had improvised a sort of
Turkish bath, walking the whole distance from Caryes
and leading his mule. Consequently he soon began to
lag behind, and O — was continually inquiring of me,
' Where is your gr^at ox ? ' ' Behind, I suppose, as
usual.' ' Well, of course we shall never get to Caracalla
to-night,' &c. &c.
However at last we saw lights inland above us,
and so knew that we must have arrived at the little
harbour from which we had embarked on that miserable
passage to the Lavra just a fortnight ago. And this
proved to be the case, for we immediately turned away
from the sea and rode up a steep path towards the
lights. About three-quarters of an hour after leaving
the shore we reached the monastery and rode round to
the gate.
All was now dark ; not a light was to be seen in the
windows, and of course the gate of the monastery was
u
290 MOUNT ATHOS
closed. We dismounted and shouted several times as
loudly as we could, but no answer came from within.
Evidently the monks had all gone to bed and were
by this time sound asleep. So in desperation I
picked up a big stone and hammered at the great iron-
bound door.
After I had indulged in this exercise for some little
time O — declared that he saw a light going up
inside the tower over the gateway,^ and presently a
head appeared, very cautiously, from a window at the
top.
We hailed the head with fresh shouts.
' Who are you ? ' said the head.
' Englishmen,' we all replied together.
* Englishmen ? ' answered the head in a tone of in-
credulity, as much as to say, * Don't think you're going
to gammon me ! '
' Yes, two Englishmen,' we replied.
* But I see four,' said the head.
* Oh, they are our servants — our dragoman from
Athens and a muleteer from the Serai, both good and
true men.*
' Yes,' added Angelos, ' we are attendants on these
noble Englishmen.'
* Where did you say you came from } ' said the
head.
' From the Serai,' we shouted all at once again.
The head surveyed us for a moment or two and
then disappeared with the light, and v/e were left, as
before, in darkness.
J ust as I was picking up my stone to recommence
' * The gate of the monastery is adorn'd with an exceeding high
Tower.' — Gcorgirenes.
WE AROUSE GRAVE SUSPICIONS 29 1
the attack on the door a light appeared at another
window, this time not in the tower, but in the wall, and
a lantern being hung out, two monks, shading their
eyes from the light, took a careful survey of us.
' Unbar the door ! ' cried O — .
No, they replied; they never opened their gates at
this time of night, and besides the hegoumenos had the
key and he had gone to bed.
* Then you must wake him up,' said we ; ' we can't
stay here all night.'
But who were we ? said they, and where did we
come from ? and where were we going } and why
did we knock at their gate so late ?
So we had to answer all these questions over again,
and added that we had been benighted on our way
from Iveron, having been delayed at starting ; that
we were not brigands come to sack the monastery, but
two peaceable travellers with our two servants, four in
all, and that we should be exceedingly obliged to them
if they would open the door as soon as they could. '
' But I see Jive horses,' said one of the monks,
craning his head as far as possible out of the window
and peering down upon us with the aid of the lantern.
So we had to explain that one carried our baggage
and that we had no friends in ambuscade. Then the
light and the monks departed, and after a few moments
we heard the welcome sound of the unfastening of bolts
and the clanking of chains, and finally the great door
creaked on its hinges and we were admitted, just
twenty minutes after our arrival before the gate.
Now the good monks could not do enough for us,
and although it was so late they cooked us a modest
supper of eggs. The abbot being in bed we were
u 2
2Q2 MOUNT ATHOS
entertained by two subordinate monks, one of whom
was a bit of a wag and kept us in roars of laughter.
He would address O — as pappa, beginning every
sentence with this word.
After supper a mattress was put for each of us on
the divan (we supped and slept in the same circular
room in which we were entertained on the occasion of
CARACALLA.
our former hasty visit) ; we put up our levinges and
were soon lulled to sleep by the tinkling of the mule
bells on the hills.
Caracalla is beautifully situated some distance from
the sea, of which it enjoys a fine view, being at a con-
siderable height above it. Its high irregular walls
and lofty gate-tower give it a very feudal and pic-
turesque appearance. When it was founded, and by
whom, is not certain, but most probably the founder
was a prince of the name of John Antonius Caracalla,
who is said to have lived in the reign of Romanus
RACALLA — DERIVATION OF NAME 293
Diogenes (1067-107 1), that brave emperor who was re-
warded for his noble and partially successful attempts
to check the inroads of the Turks by a cruel death
at the hands of his countrymen. Anyhow there is
evidence that Romanus bestowed certain privileges
upon the monastery in 1070.^ If we accept this
origin all difficulty vanishes with respect to the name
of the convent. Otherwise there seems to be no
alternative but to derive its name with Mr. Tozer
from Kdpvau KaKai, ' fine hazels,' on account of the
nut trees amidst which it is situated (and readers
of Mr. Curzon's * Monasteries of the Levant ' will
remember how the abbot of Caracalla speculated in
nuts), or else to accept M. Langlois's suggestion, ' Cara,
cala,' two Turkish words, one signifying * black ' and
the other ' earth.' But I think the evidence in favour
of the word being derived from the founder's name is
too strong. The tradition is at least as old as the time
of Archbishop Georgirenes, 1678. The archiman-
drite Porphyry, a trustworthy man who^ spent some
time in Athos about forty years ago, examining the
charters and other historical documents, attributes the
foundation to a certain Antonius, son of a Roman
prince called Caracalla, in the reign of Romanus
Diogenes, and all accounts give Caracalla as the name
of the founder, although some speak of him as the
Emperor Caracalla, who reigned from a.d. 211 to 217,
a manifest absurdity.
There is no doubt as to the connexion of the
voivode Peter, Hospodar of Moldavia, with the
monastery, and the story of its rebuilding I will give
from John Comnenus.
* Muralt, Chronographie Byzantine.
294 MOUNT ATHOS
This voivode, wishinc^ to restore it, sent his proto-
spatharius, or chief swordsman (a high miHtary title),
whose name was also Peter, with a large sum of
money for the purpose, as it seems, of rebuilding the
monastery or of founding another in its place. But
the chief swordsman, greedy of gain, only built a
tower near the sea and returned to Bogdania. The
voivode having discovered the trick that had been
played him, was naturally furious, and determined to
cut off Peter's head. The latter, to save his life,
promised if he were let off to build the monastery at
his own charges, and this the voivode allowed him to
do. Coming to Athos, he erected the monastery on
the place where it now stands,^ and then returned
joyfully to Bogdania, where his master received him
with all honour.
Finally the voivode and his protospatharius re-
solved with one consent to go to the Holy Mountain to
embrace the monastic life, and as they had borne the
same names in the world so they determined to bear
the same in religion, and both Peters were called by
one name, Pachomius. And they piously passed their
lives in this monastery, where also they now rest in
the Lord. Comnenus says that in his day the cell of
the chief swordsman existed outside the monastery.
Perhaps it is still there ?
The catholicon is a fine church with a beautiful
carved iconostasis.'"^ It contains an interesting icon of
^ It seems probable from this story that the original monastery had
been so far destroyed that there was a question as to whether it should
be rebuilt on a new site or not, and that finally the latter counsel pre-
vailed.
' Measurements : Sanctuary : from north to south, including side
chapels, 25 feet ; across chord of east apse, 11^ feet ; from iconostasis
CARACALLA — CATHOLICON AND LIBRARY 295
a monk of this monastery named Gideon, a Turk who
was converted to Christianity. He finally won the
crown of martyrdom at Turnavo, being chopped to
pieces by order of the Pasha of Thessaly because he
refused to deny Christ. This happened in the year
18 18, and there is one old monk still living who
remembers him.
The principal relics are a piece of the True Cross,
part of the skull of St. Bartholomew, a lump of earth
mingled with bones of the Forty Martyrs of Nicomedia,
and the body of St. Gideon in a beautiful silver shrine.
There are no interesting reliquaries.
On the roof of the narthex are queer representa-
tions of the Flood. In one fresco Noah is inviting
the animals to enter something which looks like a
railway signal-box by beating a semantron. This
signal-box is the ark, but Noah and the animals are so
much bigger that there seems to be considerable doubt
as to whether they can get into it, and an adventurous
camel that has made the attempt has apparently got
into difficulties with his neck.
The library is contained in a small room on the
ground floor close to the catholicon, used also as a
lumber room for old guns and other objects of little
interest to the monks. It is not isolated, but forms
part of the domestic buildings, so stands a good chance
of being burnt. Sometimes the Athos libraries are
separate buildings in the courtyard, as at the Lavra ;
sometimes they are placed over the narthex or porch
to end of east apse, 12 feet. Nave: across transepts, ■^'j feet; from
iconostasis to west wall, 26^ feet. Esonarthex (which opens into the nave
by three doorways), from east to west, 21^ feet, nearly the length of nave.
There is also an exonarthex.
296 MOUNT ATHOS
of the catholicon, as at St. Dionysius ; in these cases
they are tolerably safe In case of fire attacking the
monastery. But usually they occupy some room in
the buildings themselves, and when a general conflagra-
tion occurs some get burnt, others suffer terribly from
being thrown out of window or otherwise hastened to
a place of comparative security. We always tried to
impress upon the monks the importance of having
separate buildings for their books.
The librarian, so the monks said, was away (we
were beginning to look upon this officer as a fabulous
being; he was always away) ; nobody else knew any-
thing about the books, and of course there was no sort
of catalogue. So we had to rummage for ourselves
amongst the dusty shelves. O — found a fine manu-
script of the New Testament and an illuminated
evangelistarium, and I a splendid folio of the Gospels
in uncials of the seventh century. We calculated that
there were about 250 manuscripts in all, on vellum and
paper.
Besides the books an old epitrackelion, or priest's
stole, which was hanging up on a nail, attracted my
attention. It was a fine specimen of Byzantine em-
broidery of considerable antiquity, and, as it had
evidently been disused on account of its age and worn-
out appearance, I much wished to become its possessor;
but Angelos was afraid to ask the monks to sell it, lest
they should be offended ; and, indeed, we found it
everywhere impossible to offer to buy anything from
the monasteries. There was another old stole in the
library, but not of such fine workmanship as the
former.
After taking an unsuccessful photograph of the
CROSS-EXAMINATION OF THE ABBOT 297
monastery (two of the younger and more agile monks
running up to the top of the tower and standing on
the parapet to make themselves prominent) we had
breakfast, and then tried to extract some information
respecting the monastery from its head, the abbot
Stephen. But the old gentleman had apparently the
greatest possible objection to answering questions or
taxing his memory in any way, and literally writhed
under his examination. At each interrogation he
looked this way and that, any way but at us, as if he
were trying to find a means of escape, wriggled in his
seat until I thought he would have fallen off the
divan, repeated our question, and declared his inability
to answer in the most provoking way.
Asked how many monks there were in the monas-
tery, after writhing like an eel on a spear, and making
several unsuccessful attempts at parrying the question,
he at length replied that he had no idea.
' Are there a hundred ? ' asked O — .
* No, not so mafty as that,' replied our victim.
' Are there twenty ? ' said I.
'Yes.'
' Thirty ? '
' Yes.'
* Are you quite sure there are not seventy ? '
' Yes, quite sure.'
And finally by the process of exhaustion we
managed to fix the number at fifty, with the help of
two rather more intelligent monks whom we called in
as their abbot's assessors. Really we were, perhaps, a
little formidable, Angelos asking the questions and
we two outlandish fellows, sitting each with pocket-
book and pencil in hand, waiting for the answers ! It
298 MOUNT ATHOS
required the greatest perseverance on our part, but
we were determined not to let him go until we had
obtained full particulars of everything, and although
we succeeded at last I will undertake to say that the
poor abbot never spent such a miserable morning in
his life.
As to the subject of foundation, of course we could
get no information. Founded by an imperial family,
perhaps Caracalla, but he didn't know, was all that the
abbot could tell us, although we put the question in
every possible form a dozen times.
Besides the fifty monks there are twelve servants.
The rule is coenobite. The monastery has lands in
Cassandra and Thasos, and formerly possessed a farm
in Moldavia.
The churches are :
Esocclesia.
1. The catholicon, dedicated to the Holy Apostles (to all, or, as
Georgirenes says, to SS. Peter and Paul ?).
2. The Annunciation.
3. The Assumption.
4. The Panteleemon.
5. St. John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria.^
^ St. John the Merciful, or the Almoner, furnished, according to Neale,
the name to the famous order of Hospitallers. He was a native of
Cyprus, being the son of the governor of that island. He devoted him-
self to God and was distinguished for the liberality of his alms. In 609
he became the 35th patriarch of Alexandria. Soon afterwards, in 614,
Chosroes, King of Persia, overran Syria and took Jerusalem. 90,000
Christians were massacred, principally by the accursed Jews, who
bought them from the Persians for that purpose ; the Patriarch
Zacharias and an immense number of the inhabitants were carried into
captivity, and the True Cross fell into the hands of the infidels. In this
fearful calamity John fed the refugees, redeemed captives, and rebuilt the
churches that had been thrown down. Whilst the Patriarch was thus
taxing all the resources of the Church of Alexandria a famine broke out
DEPARTURE FROM CARACALLA 299
6, St George.
7. SS. Barlaam and Joseph.*
Exocclesi.
All Saints (cemetery chapel).
There are ten kellia attached to Caracalla.
The monastery has suffered considerably from fires,
the last of which took place in 1874.
By the time we had asked all our questions and
had obtained satisfactory replies the mules were ready,
so we descended to the gateway and mounted them.
When we were in our saddles and just moving off the
good abbot heaped coals of fire on our heads by pre-
senting each of us with a splendid bunch of grapes as
a parting gift. I really believe he was sorry to lose
us, although we had plagued him so !
The first part of our ride took us past Philotheou,
in Egypt, owing to a deficiency in the rise of the Nile : the treasury of
the Church was exhausted, and he borrowed until he could find none to
trust or lend. Eveiy day he fed 7,500 poor folk, besides the alms he
sent to Jerusalem. Referiaing my reader to Neale's History of the Holy
Eastern Church {Pat. of Alexandria) for further particulars concerning
the life of this good man, I will conclude by giving one of the stories
about him.
He discovered that during the celebration of the Eucharist many
persons left the church after the Gospel, without waiting for the Oblation
(this seems to be an old abuse). On one occasion St. John followed
them, and when they expressed astonishment at such an occurrence the
Patriarch replied, ' My sons, where the sheep are there should the
shepherd be. It is for your sakes that I go to church, for I could cele-
brate at home.' After applying this quaint remedy twice it is said that
he cured his flock of their bad habit.
He died in 620, at the age of sixty -four, at his native city of Amathus,
in Cyprus, and was there buried. His relics were translated first to
Constantinople, then to Buda, and finally to Posen in the year 1530. His
festival is November 12. Such an admirable character deserves this
long note.
* St. Joseph, or rather St. Josaphat, was a holy king of India. Con-
cerning these saints see the Legenda aurea, ' De Sanctis Josaphat et
Barlaam.'
300 MOUNT ATPIOS
by the road we had gone over before. Leaving that
monastery on our right, for the next four hours we
rode through a beautiful forest, our path winding
through the shrubs and the trees, which not only shielded
us from the hot sun but also intercepted our view, so
that only once or twice did we see the peak of Athos
through the wood, and only occasionally caught sight
of the blue sea beneath us. We had to ascend a con-
siderable height, so as to cross the backbone of the
peninsula. Two hours after leaving Caracalla we
reached the top, and as we rode along the ridge had
for a short time views of the sea on either hand, both
of the Strymonic and Singitic gulfs, before plunging
again into a wood on the other side. Shortly after
three o'clock we drew near Xeropotamou, and at four
found ourselves back again in our old quarters at
Russico.
Here was our friend the metropolitan Michael,
very pleasant and courteous, as before ; we were sorry
that he left Athos that evening, when, owing to our not
understanding that he was going, we missed saying
farewell to him. A good dinner greatly refreshed us
after our ride across the promontory, and we retired to
bed soon afterwards, having spent a most enjoyable
day. I ought to have said that Angelos was much
better — in fact, his earache had nearly gone, although it
had left a little deafness behind. He much appreciated
getting back to Russico, for last night at Caracalla he
was driven from his divan and had taken refuge in the
middle of the room ; and whilst we were snugly tucked
up in our levinges, he was occupying himself with
picking off the intruders that crawled on to his burly
person and throwing them away to the extremities of
RUSSIAN JEALOUSY 3OI
the room. Rather poor fun, I should think, but we
told him that, being a native of these parts, he ought
to be accustomed to all such discomforts !
The next day being Sunday, O — , by permission,
celebrated the Holy Eucharist in our room. We after-
wards discovered that the monks were rather annoyed
at having been asked leave for this ; why I know not. It
was the same with everything at Russico. Although the
Russians could not have been more hospitable than they
were, yet underneath all their civility there existed an
unpleasant sort of feeling, which it was hard to account
for unless it were political jealousy of Englishmen.
Thus they were unwilling to show us their treasures
or their relics, objected to our going behind the icono-
stasis in the churches, and showed suspicion of us in
many other little ways — so different from all the other
monasteries, the Russian skete of St. Andrew not
excepted, where we were received with what I can
only call brotherly affection. And yet, as I say, with it
all they were scrupulously civil and kind, pressing us
to stay with them and giving us the best of everything.
We passed the day in thoroughly Oriental fashion,
lying for the most part on our beds, half asleep, half
awake. At three o'clock we went to the principal
(Russian) church for vespers, and much enjoyed the
' tetraphone ' music. At the conclusion of the office a
richly jewelled icon of Our Lady, which hung near the
top of the iconostasis, was slowly let down in front of
the holy doors. The abbot Macarius stood before it
on the platform, or soleas} of the iconostasis ; two priests
stood on each side of him towards the picture, facing
' The sanctuary step, which projects outside the iconostasis, usually
to the breadth of several feet.
302 MOUNT ATHOS
each other, and two deacons, with silver censers in their
hands, also facing each other, nearest the picture. Then
the abbot, taking a book and holding it up close to his
face, commenced to intone a long litany, each petition
being about four times the length of those in the litany
of the English Prayer Book, and the burden of it * Hail,'
a word which occurred, say, six times in each petition,
and the only word we could understand, as the lan-
guage was Slavonic. At the end of each of these
sentences the abbot and his two priests crossed them-
selves and bowed very low, whilst the deacons turned
and censed the icon, the quire meanwhile chanting
a threefold ' Lord, have mercy,' a doxology, or an
'Alleluya.' This curious service lasted for the best
part of an hour, without any variation, and then two
monks advanced and supported the picture in their arms
between them, leaning it on their shoulders ; and first
the abbot and then the priests and the deacons, after
prostrating themselves thrice, touching the ground
with their foreheads each time, advanced and kissed
the icon and prostrated themselves again. All the
monks and lay people followed, and the poor old
Russian merchant, who was still in his stall by us,
knocked his head upon the ground so often and so
vehemently that we began to fear that each prostration
would be his last. The icon, a modern one, was, we
were told, miraculous and came from Jerusalem.
And can I defend this, or must I admit that such
devotion comes at least within measurable distance of
idolatry ?
Let me say at once that I am not prepared to defend
every Oriental position, far from it, and that I should not
like to see a service of this kind in our English churches,
ANGLICANS AND ORIENTALS 303
though quite ready to admit my judgment wrong.
But even though we may think it to be our duty to
reprehend a devotion or a practice, I do plead most
earnestly for an unprejifdiced consideration of the
question before we venture to judge our brethren of
the Catholic Church. I entreat that we may put the
best construction possible on their actions and attribute
to them the best motives ; that we may indulge in a
little wholesome self-examination, to see whether the
particular doctrine or practice which obtains amongst
them, and to- which we object, is wholly devoid of
good or has not been, by the mercy of God, a means of
preserving them from some pitfalls into which we have
fallen ; and finally, since their peculiar position and
history may have been favourable to the growth of
certain spiritual flowers, as ours to the growth of others,
that we may try to cull these for our own benefit.
Thus, if we must have controversy, we may at least
endeavour to make it profitable to ourselves. Now,
as we understand tjie feelings of the Greeks no better
than they understand ours, it is just as unfair for
us to call them idolatrous and their rites and customs
superstitious as for the Greeks to speak of the English
(as a friend remarked to me not long since) as an
admirable people^ with pre-eminent virtues but no reli-
gion. It is just as difficult for us Anglicans to throw
ourselves into an Oriental way of looking at things as
for an Eastern to view theological questions through
Anglican spectacles.
Again, ' people that live in glass houses should not
throw stones.' If the Greek Church has exaggerated
the honour due to the Blessed Virgin, how far have
we erred in the opposite direction ? In England we may
304 MOUNT ^TIIOS
adorn our churches with the similitudes of patriarchs
and prophets, of apostles, nay, even of martyrs, con-
fessors, and virgins ; but there is one Saint that may
seldom be represented in picture or in sculpture, and
there is one name which may scarcely be mentioned
in this Christian land but with an apology and bated
breath, the name of Mary, the Virgin Mother of
God.i
And if you would have the Oriental opinion on
this our strange Anglican custom, hear the answer of
the Easterns to the nonjuring English bishops, who
laboured, to their eternal honour, for peace in the early
part of the eighteenth century.
They were ready, so said the Anglican divines, to
call the Mother of Our Lord blessed, and magnify the
grace of God which so highly exalted her ; yet were
they afraid of giving the glory of God to a creature, or
to run into any extreme by blessing or magnifying her.
' Here,' wrote back the Eastern prelates in reply,
* here we may fairly cry out with David, There were
they in great fear where no fear was!' And that the
Oriental Church does not intentionally teach her
children to pay idolatrous worship to pictures and
to images is clear from her formularies.
I believe and confess, according to the understanding of the
Holy Eastern Church, that the Saints in Christ who reign in heaven
are worthy to be honoured and invoked, and that their prayers and
intercessions move the All-merciful God to the salvation of our souls ;
also that to venerate their incorruptible relics, as also the precious
virtues of their remains, is well-pleasing to God.
' A divine of the English Church not long ago edited a hymn book
in which the words of a well-known hymn, ' Jesu, Son of Mary, hear,' were
altered to ' Jesu, Son of David, hear,' for no other reason, apparently,
than because the name of Mary was offensive to English ears.
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS 305
I admit that the pictures of Christ our Saviour, of the Holy
Virgin, and of other saints are meet to be had and to be honoured,
not for the purpose of worship, but that by having them before our
eyes we may be encouraged to devotion and to the imitation of the
deeds of the righteous ones represented by the pictures.'
If it be said that it is all very well to talk of the
Church not teaching idolatry, the poor and ignorant of
the laity at least do, to all intents and purposes, pay to
the Holy Virgin and to her icons the worship due to
God alone, it may be replied that in England, where
we boast of education and enlightenment, the doctrine of
the Communion of Saints is to the ordinary layman
simply a dry dogma, absolutely without meaning to
him and certainly bearing no fruit ; so that he is in
great danger of substituting the material world for the
spiritual, and even of losing his belief in the super-
natural altogether ; and that one result of the suppres-
sion of all teaching with regard to St. Mary has been
that half the Anglican Church is, through ignorance,
semi-Nestorian.''' *
The true doctrine of the Orthodox Church of the
East, as distinguished from the Roman teaching re-
specting the Blessed Virgin on the one hand and the
Protestant on the other, is so well put in an essay on
' Catechism of the Russian Church.
^ I recently had a conversation with a person of the lower middle dass
which opened my eyes. She was a pious Churchwoman, a regular com-
municant, a supporter of ' Gospel temperance ' (whatever that may mean),
and took a real interest in all religious matters. I had made use of the
expression ' the Blessed Virgin or any other saint,' when she pulled me
up with the remark, ' Surely, sir, you don't think the Virgin Mary was a
saint ? I have always looked upon her as a sinful woman just like any
of us.' Words, indeed, to make one shudder.
And yet another illustration. About six months ago I came across a
little book on abuses in the English Church, written by two beneficed
clergymen and addressed to the Anglican episcopate. One chapter
X
306 MOUNT ATHOS
the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Andrew
Nicolaievitch Mouravieff, sometime procurator to the
Holy Governing Synod of Russia/ and describes so
excellently the Catholic position, that I cannot refrain
from quoting an extract from it.
There is nothing contrary to orthodox doctrine in the assertion
that the Blessed Virgin was without actual sin. Grant that St. Mary-
was, in a manner pecuHar to herself, freed from original s\u, and that
she thus became, as Liguori affirms, the restorer of the human race ;
and what do you teach but that the Passion and Death of our Lord
were not indispensable for the salvation of mankind ? See to what
a blasphemous conclusion the new dogma leads. See how it detracts
from the expiatory merits of the Redeemer. They affirm that it is
necessary for the glor}- and honour of the Blessed Virgin herself to
have her conception immaculate. AVe are far from the idea of
Protestants, who, while they respect in the person of the Mother of
God her virtues, her humility, her submission to the Divine Will, see
not, and will not see, her exaltation above all creatures, celestial and
terrestrial, and her mediation between her Son and the faithful. We
agree entirely so far as this : that our duty is to glorify, by every
possible means, her whom the Almighty has invested with majesty,
and whom, according to the Gospel, all generations must call blessed.
We agree that this is a holy work and the duty of every Christian.
This the Orthodox Church does : since the earliest ages of Christianity
she has glorified the Blessed Virgin, naming her more precious than
the cherubim and infinitely more glorious than the seraphim ;
supplicating her as the most powerful Mediatress with the Lord and
the mightiest advocate of the Christian world. In commemorating
the principal events of her life the Orthodox Church glorifies them by
particular feasts, as the Nativity, the Presentation, and the Assump-
tion. Under the conviction that the Blessed Virgin, as Mother of
was headed ' Mariolatry,' and spoke of the great heresiarch as the
'faithful Nestorius' who opposed 'the heretical Cyril' (I think the word
was ' heretical ; ' at any rate it was equivalent to it) in his attempt to
establish the 'blasphemous title of the Theotocos.'
' Translated from the Russby Neale, Voices from the East. Masters
1859.
DIGNITY OF ST. MARY 3Q7
the Most High God, always enjoys a maternal access to her Son and
to God, and prays incessantly for the Christian world, the Orthodox
Church terminates nearly all her prayers by 'commemorating the
most holy, undefiled, excellently laudable Mother of God and Ever-
Virgin,' as a proof how powerful is her intercession with God and
how capable of propitiating His favour. But while thus glorifying
St. Mary the Orthodox Church has never entered on the question
whether her conception was immaculate, and has even considered
the question itself unsuitable to the dignity of the Queen of Angels.
X2
308 MOUNT ATHOS
CHAPTER XIX.
Monday, ■'^'^^""^^/ ^ , We had arranged to visit Simo-
petra to-day, as it will be remembered we had omitted
this monastery on our way from St. Gregory's to
Russico. The monks kindly offered to send us by
their launch, so steam was got up and we went on board
at nine o'clock. She was a nice little craft, having been
built at Constantinople by English engineers. All the
crew were monks, and very curious it was to see the
skipper at the wheel in full monastic dress and the
fireman stoking the engine in a tall hat.
The dial marked the extreme pressure of steam,
and we went through the water at a great pace, taking
only three-quarters of an hour to reach the port of
Simopetra. On our way we passed a little boat rowing
close in shore and going towards Xeropotamou. On
investigation it proved to contain the metropolitan of
Cavalla, sitting in the stern, with his white umbrella
over his head and the faithful Pantele and Peter in the
bows. They were too far off for us to hold any verbal
communication with them, but we waved our hats and
handkerchiefs and were pleased to find that we were
recognised.
I am utterly unable to describe the wonderful
'ill!!lfii!illif:::iiii^^i!''':''5':3l!;i'^
SIMOPETRA 309
position of the monastery of Simon the Anchorite,^ and
although we tried to photograph it from no less than
four different places we could not get one negative that
did it justice.
From the mountain-side a deep valley or cleft
descends to the sea. Perched on the very point of an
isolated rock in the midst of that ravine is the monas-
tery, at the height of between 900 and i ,000 feet above
the sea. As you stand on the little quay, which is
defended by an ancient fortress, the monastery towers
right above your head, standing out against the sky,
only connected with the mountain by an aqueduct,
consisting of two rows of thirteen or fourteen arches.
With great labour a terraced garden has been scooped
out of the rock and built up below the aqueduct, much
of the earth having^ been brou2:ht thither, and in it the
monks grow their fruit and vegetables, the produce
being hauled up by means of a basket and a pulley.
On this side the walls come down almost to the garden,
and here is the entrance to the monastery ; but on the
other sides the rock is steep and rugged ; the walls
rise from it straight and bare, pierced at intervals by
small windows, and then wooden balconies commence,
bracketed out from the wall one above the other, over-
hanging the precipice. In one place there are no less
than seven rows of these balconies. Usually, however,
there are from two to four. The mules which had
brought down the Archbishop's party were still standing
at the port ; so we had no need to make use of the
speaking-trumpet which is kept below as a means of
communication with the monastery. However, one of
^ ' Romance has not figured a situation more wild and picturesque,'
— Sibthorpe.
3IO MOUNT ATHOS
the monks, who Hved in the old tower at the port,
applying his mouth to one end of the trumpet and
raising the other to heaven, shouted through it a
warning of our approach, and presently a voice that
seemed to come from the clouds responded to the call.
The road up to the convent is indeed what Ricaut
quaintly calls it, * a craggy and asperous ascent/ It
winds and twists up the side of the mountain, and
although the path is good the ascent is extremely
rapid, and at the turns of the road the mules fre-
quently put their heads over an abyss, wheeling slowly
round as if they were contemplating the propriety of
suicide.
After three-quarters of an hour of this climbing we
reached the gate of the monastery, where the principal
monks were waiting to receive us. They held our
stirrups (if you can call two rope nooses stirrups)
whilst we dismounted, and then conducted us through
a long winding passage, evidently so constructed for
purposes of defence, into the courtyard. This is so
small that the catholicon almost fills it, and the few
apertures that exist between the roof of the church and
the surrounding buildings are, for the most part, covered
with glass. This curious pinched-in arrangement is
due, of course, to the peculiarity of the site.
The catholicon is dedicated to the Nativity of Christ.^
As Mr. Tozer remarks, it possesses more windows than
is usual with a Byzantine church, owing to the darkness
caused by its being so squeezed between other buildings.
' Measurements : Sanctuary : from north to south, including chapels,
24^ feet (this is the extreme width of the church, not including tran-
septs) ; across chord of east apse, 9I feet ; from iconostasis to wall of east
apse, 11^ feet. Nave: from iconostasis to west wall, 26 feet; across
transepts, 33 feet. The esonarthex measures 1 5 feet from east to west.
SIMOPETRA CHURCHES 31I
There is a very low, dark esonarthex. The exo-
narthex is somewhat irregular, having its north-west
corner cut off, owing to the contraction of the court-
yard.
The frescoes which cover the walls of the church
have, unfortunately, been repainted. The iconostasis
of carved wood is fine and well executed. We did not
see the relics, which are of St. Modestus, St. Barlaam,
and St. Mary Magdalen. The last is probably that
mentioned by Georgirenes. * They shew here an hand
for a sacred Relique of St. Mary Magdalen's body, but
the Fingers of it are extraordinary great'
In the west gallery of the church, over the narthex,
is the small room which forms the library. There are
nearly 250 manuscripts, rather over forty of which are
written on vellum ; none of any interest that we could
discover. They are not arranged in any order and are
not particularly well cared for.
List of Churches belonging to Simopetra.
Esocclesia.
1. Catholicon (the Nativity).
2. The' Archangels.
3. St. George.
4. St. Mary Magdalen.
5. St. Charalampes.
Exocdesia.
1. The Nativity of Our Lady.
2. The Assumption of Our Lady.
^* ■ . I attached to two cathismata.
4. St. Simon J
The monastery possesses four kellia, in addition to
the two cathismata mentioned above ; also two farms
in Cassandra and one in the island of Lemnos. Being"
312 MOUNT ATHOS
a poor convent, it has suffered severely from the loss of
its lands in Moldavia.^ There are seventy-five monks
attached to it, who follow the coenobite rule, and about
twenty servants. The abbot's name is Neophytus.
The monks gave us a good meal, and afterwards we
sat in a room situated in the topmost story, facing the
sea. Here the abbot told us the history of the monas-
tery.
He said that it was founded by John Unglessi, King
of Servia and Moldavia, about 1250 (I believe the real
date is 1363^). His daughter being ill, he besought the
intercession of St. Simon, who had lived on this rock
as a hermit and had died five years previously. His
daughter recovered, and the King founded the monas-
tery as a thank offering.
Comnenus gives the same account, but adds further
particulars concerning St. Simon. He says that he was
a hermit, who lived near here and saw a bright star
descending and resting on the point of rock. God re-
vealed to him the meaning of the vision — -that he was to
build a church on that site. This he did, and called
it the New Bethlehem. Afterwards John Unglessi
founded the monastery, as has been said, and finally
himself became a monk. This story is referred to in
a print of Simopetra presented to us on leaving, which,
besides a view of the monastery, gives several scenes
from the life of St. Simon. In one the saint as he
prays sees the star upon the rock ; in another the
church is being built, and St. Simon is removing a
great stone by the sign of the cross ; in a third John
^ It seems to have lost a revenue of 3,850/. from a monastery at
Bucharest, which had been its property since 1594. See Christ. Rem.
1851.
"^ Murah, Chi'onographie Byzantine.
SIMOPETRA 3 1 3
Unglessi is praying before the icon of St. Simon,
whilst his daughter writhes upon the floor ; and the
fourth is an extremely funny picture. A monk is lying
on his back, two venerable persons with glories round
their heads are holding up his feet, whilst a third,
who is- standing in a cloud, administers the bastinado.
Most of the other pictures, all quaintly delineated, are
unintelligible.
MONASTERY OF SIMOPETRA.
We went out upon the balcony in front ot the room
in which we were sitting. What a glorious view it was !
— beneath us the little port where we had landed that
morning, and the Gulf of the Holy Mountain, with
the sister promontory of Longos on the farther side.
The balcony upon which we stood was the highest,
four others being beneath us. Clarke ^ says of Simo-
petra, * The view from its external gallery is one of
the most awful and terrific that can be conceived. The
* Professor Clarke was at Athos in 1801.
314 MOUNT ATHOS
Spectator looking down feels as if he were suspended
over a gloomy abyss.'
There was a speaking-trumpet lying on a seat, of
the same size and shape as the one at the port. So,
taking it up, I roared through it, ' God save the Queen ! '
to the great amusement of the monks who were standing
beside me, and to the astonishment of the good people
at the harbour beneath, who told us on our return that
they wondered what could be happening up above !
Before we left the monastery we took two photo-
graphs of it from the mountain on different sides. I
have given both views here, as they give a good idea
of the building, although they do not do justice to its
position.
As the abbot escorted us through the tortuous
passage to the gate he told us of the terrible calamity
which befell Simopetra in the sixteenth century. The
monastery caught fire, unfortunately close to the en-
trance, thus cutting off the means of escape. The
unfortunate inhabitants were driven gradually to the
side which faces the sea, and so there was no choice
left but that of the precipice or of the fire. Some of
the younger monks succeeded in letting themselves
down by ropes, but the great majority were either
dashed to pieces or burnt to death. With the excep-
tion of the catholicon, which must have had a mar-
vellous escape, the whole convent was destroyed — that
is to say, it was completely gutted and everything that
could burn was burnt, the great stone walls alone
remaining intact. Even now, though three centuries
have passed since that awful catastrophe, the monks
can hardly speak of it without a shudder.
We mounted our mules soon after three o'clock and
WE REJOIN THE ARCHBISHOP 315
reached the port at four. Here, after some delay, we
embarked in a rowing boat and directed our monastic
oarsmen to pull us to Xeropotamou ; for we had heard
from the abbot of Simopetra that the metropolitan of
Cavalla had gone thither. On our arrival at the little
bay and harbour of Daphne we found mules awaiting
us, for we had sent word that morning overland from
Simopetra that we were coming. We mounted them,
and riding for a little way up ' the Dry River ' — the
mountain torrent, dry in summer, which gives its name
to Xeropotamou — we struck up the hill to our left,
reaching the convent in the course of half an hour.
Here we received a most cordial welcome both from
the Archbishop and the monks ; the former absolutely
fell on our necks and kissed us, and made us promise
not to part company again.
* Stay here to-night,' said he, * and to-morrow, as
time is precious to you, we will go to Russico together.'
We had left all our luggage at that monastery, as
we had not intendeti staying away for a night, and this
we explained to the Archbishop.
* Never mind,' said he. * Send Angelos back to
Russico and order him to forward your luggage here
to-night by the mule which takes him. He can stay
at Russico until we come ; meanwhile I will be your
dragoman ! '
So this course was agreed upon, and Angelos
departed.
The monks provided us with an excellent repast,
which we much enjoyed, and after some pleasant
conversation with our old friend, our portmanteaux
having arrived, we retired to separate bedrooms, the
Archbishop superintending the suspension of the
3 1 6^ MOUNT ATHOS
curtains of our levinges and otherwise taking the most
fatherly care of us.
The next morning I was awakened by a most
terrific uproar in the corridor, several persons all
talking at the same time, and that in no gentle
manner, and the voice of the Archbishop rising high
above the din, conveying the impression that its owner
was considerably ruffled. After lying awake for a few
minutes and finding that the noise rather increased
than lessened, I got out of bed and opened my door
a little to see what was happening, as I did so en-
countering O — , also with his head through his doorway,
on the opposite side of the passage.
' What is the matter ? ' said I.
* I can't conceive. The noise awoke me, and I
thought that the monastery was on fire at the least'
There were about six monks, Pantele, and our
prelate ; and whether the monks and the Archbishop
were together storming at the unfortunate cavass, or
the Archbishop and Pantele at the monks, and what
the bone of contention was, we never exactly dis-
covered, but they were certainly all very much out of
temper, and the Archbishop of Cavalla was not the
man to be crossed.
As soon as they saw us looking out of our rooms
they seemed to think we were in want of something,
and one of the company advanced with two very
dirty towels and two jugs of water for our baths.
These were the identical towels that all the company
had used in washing their hands after dinner the pre-
vious evening, and we had remarked at the time how
filthy they were. Perhaps the dispute had been about
these, for our archiepiscopal dragoman interposed and
THE. MONASTIC TOWELS 2>^7
told the monk to take them away and bring us fresh
ones. The EngHshmen, he said, were accustomed to
have clean towels for their baths.
'Very sorry,' said the monk, 'but we have no
others.'
' Then you must get some,' replied the Archbishop.
' I am not going to allow them to have these.'
And it was all in vain that our hosts protested that
these were the only two towels in the monastery, and
that as everybody, even the Archbishop, used them,
why could not we }
' No,' said he, ' they must have clean towels.'
So after another long discussion they finally brought
two new pieces of very coarse and thick linen with the
dressing still on, having never been washed, as stiff as
boards, which proved to be quite useless, as the water
ran off the dressing like rain off a duck's back ; thus
we were constrained to use our handkerchiefs (you
have no idea what can be done with a pocket-hand-
kerchief till you try) and the fringes of the dirty
towels.
We expected to start for Russico at once, but
instead, at the Archbishop's pleasure, we managed to
waste the day very well until three o'clock, when we
at last got off, and reached our destination in three-
quarters of an hour. The customary little service of
reception was performed in the church, on account of
the Archbishop in Greek, which caused a slight con-
fusion, the Russian monks on one side of the quire
being unable to sing ' Kyrie eleison.'
Poor Conon was delighted to see us, and repeated
over and over again like a parrot the one sentence of
English that I had taught him — ' I am a fool ! ' ' I am a
3l8 MOUNT ATHOS
fool ! ' I was not able to refrain from the joke, as he
was certainly one of the most ignorant and childish
monks we had met. He was always laughing, so that
it was impossible to be angry with him for long, as the
more you scolded him the more he laughed. He told
us this evening that he had run away from his native
place to Mount Athos, and that his mother did not
know where he was, which conduct we severely re-
primanded and bade him write home at once.
The next day we tried to move on to the next monas-
tery, St. Xenophon's, but the Archbishop wished to re-
main at Russico until the following day. We employed
the time therefore in a fresh exploration of the buildings.
O — visited the printing press, the rooms where the
books are bound, and afterwards we both paid a second
visit to the library. Last evening O — had asked for
the music of a certain Kyrie we had heard in the
church, which for some reason or other the monks
were unwilling to give him ; but now the Archbishop
suddenly remembered the circumstance, and on hearing
that he had not received the music ordered our hosts
to send the book which contained it to our room, which
they did. Then we went to a room were they painted
icons, and after a deal of talking arranged to have
an icon of St. Laurence painted * in the Byzantine
manner,' as the artist said, to distinguish it from those
he was engaged upon, which I am sorry to say showed
a sad falling off from the traditional art in the direc-
tion of the worst European taste.
To-day we made the acquaintance of a most in-
telligent old Bulgarian monk named Magistrion, who
spoke French fluently. He told us that he was a
widower and had had eleven children. When the
A LITERARY MONK 319
last was married, some three years ago, he resolved to
devote himself to religion (I think he had been a
merchant), and so joined this monastery, where he was
engaged in translating the sermons of numerous
Russian divines into Greek. This was the only instance
we came across of an Athos monk being engaged in
distinct literary work. I do not mean to say that
other cases could not be found, but I should think that
outside Russico there are very few. Magistrion also
knew something about the English Church, and
brought us from the library a small book, written by
one Gatte, formerly a Roman Catholic clergyman, but
now in charge of the Orthodox church at Paris, giving
some account of all Christian denominations, and conse-
quently discussing the Anglican Church, and that very
fairly. Magistrion said that he was prevented from doing
as much literary work as he wished owing to the fre-
quent and lengthy services, and gave us the following-
description of an ordinary day at Russico ; it does not
differ much from the account of the monastic obligations
furnished us at the skete of the Prodromos : The
monks go to church at midnight and recite the night
offices until five a.m., when they repose for an hour.
At six o'clock, after singing terce and sext, they com-
mence the liturgy, which on ordinary days lasts till
eight o'clock, but on Sundays and festivals till nearly
ten. On days when they have more than one meal
they now breakfast, and then work and sleep until
three p.m., when they once more go to church, this
time for none and vespers, which last until five. At
this hour they sup, and from six to half-past seven
recite compline in church ; after which they go to bed
until eleven, when the bell summons them to private
320 MOUNT ATHOS
prayer before the midnight service. On festivals the
midnight service lasts ten hours.
Maofistrion was full of a wonderful flower which he
grew, and upon which he prided himself exceedingly.
He promised to give us the means of producing
this plant in England, and later on in the day brought
one seed, carefully wrapped up in paper. ' Ah,' said
he, expatiating on its rare qualities, ' quelle belle fleur !
quelle belle fleur! Je vous assure, messieurs, une
fleur excellente ! ' And most exact were the Instruc-
tions we received respecting this * fleur excellente ' —
how it was to be sown in March, how it loved the sun,
and many other matters relating to its cultivation.
We also again came across the Bishop Nilos, to
whom we had been hurriedly presented as we were
leaving the Serai".
Nilos was a man not only of education, but also of
considerable knowledge of the world. He had travelled
a great deal, chiefly for the purpose of Interesting the
European Governments in the question of the Rou-
manian spoliation of the monastic lands, and had been
to London nine times. Here he had come across
Bishop Blomfield, and consequently thought he knew
all about the English Church. He began to talk about
Anglican theology, especially with reference to the
Holy Communion, and supported his low opinion of
our doctrine by the assertion that after the communion
of the people the priest had for his own secular use
whatever was left over of the Sacrament \ It was not
difficult to see how the mistake had occurred, and it
only proves how true the proverb is that * a little know-
ledge is a dangerous thing,' and shows how easily we
may misunderstand rites and customs that are foreign
BISHOP NILOS 32 1
to US. Of course we contradicted the monstrous
assertion, but Nilos was obstinate.
* Ah, mes chers,' said he in a patronizing way, ' I
know better ! ' To tell us that we were unacquainted
with the customs of our own Church was a little too
provoking. But our friend the Archbishop of Cavalla,
who was sitting on the same sofa with us, came to the
rescue, and explained to the bishop that, having both
read and seen our liturgy, he could tell him that he
was mistaken, and insisted that an English priest like
O — probably knew more about his own Church than
an outsider, the result being that Nilos was completely
routed by our archiepiscopal ally. And, to our great
amusement (for Nilos understood French perfectly),
our prelate turned to O — , who was sitting on the
other side of Nilos, and said in a tone of compas-
sionate superiority, ' Cette ignorance est tres triste ; il
se mele ! '
There was not much love lost between these two
dignitaries, I fancy ; *for all the Greeks detested Nilos,
and, if the stories told about him were true, not without
reason. We heard that a few years back he aimed at
the patriarchate of Alexandria, and, being a man of
property, by a judicious use of his money he very
nearly obtained what he wanted, for he was actually
elected to the see.^ But unfortunately for him his
monastery (Esphigmenou) refused to give him a cha-
racter by withholding what we should call at Ox-
ford his 'grace;' thus Nilos lost his prize. He had
* A great and terrible abuse in the Greek Church. The Turkish rulers
of Constantinople compelled the Patriarch to buy his appointment, and
the evil practice has descended to other appointments in the Church.
Yet this custom does not altogether date from the conquest ; it unhappily
obtained to a considerable extent long before. Thus Maundeville says
V
322 MOUxNT ATHOS
been tried, I believe, before the Synod of Constanti-
nople, and incapacitated from holding any ecclesiastical
benefice, though he was allowed to retain his episcopal
rank. He lived on Mount Athos in a kelli, and having
been * sent to Coventry ' by his countrymen, had ' taken
up ' with the Russians, spending his time chiefly in
their houses.
What his crimes were I cannot say ; his character
was represented, truthfully or falsely, as that of a
desperate intriguer. But I am unwilling to blacken
his reputation on the authority of his enemies ; possibly
his unpopularity was due merely to his political sym-
pathy with Russia — an unpardonable offence in Greek
eyes — and I should be sorry to judge him without
hearing the other side.
In the afternoon we visited several churches. In
some of them a m.onk would be found reading aloud to
himself from a desk in the centre pf the building. On
inquiry we found that in one church it is the custom
for the monks to take turns of two hours each in read-
ing the Gospels, so that there is always one at this
devotional exercise day and night ; in another the
Psalms are read in the same manner.
We paid a state visit to the Abbot Macarius, who
lived in a little cell, barely furnished, but with a splendid
view of the gulf. Of course we partook of the usual
refreshments, but, as we consisted of Russians, Greeks,
and Englishmen, owing to the difficulties of language,
tonversation flagged somewhat. The Archbishop
of the * Men of Greece^ ' Thei sellen Benefices of Holy Chirche :
And so don Men in othere places : God amende it, whan his Wille is.
And that is gret Sclaundre. For now is Symonye Kyng crouned in Holy
Chirche : God amende it for his Mercy." Well may we say Amen to the
prayer of the pious old traveller.
PERSISTENCE OF TPIE ARCHBISHOP 323
hardly uttered a syllable, and after a long silence
O — , feeling that he ought to say something, remarked,
♦ Hot day.'
This was translated, and also the abbot's reply,
'Not so hot as yesterday.'
Five minutes having elapsed, I tried my hand.
* Polycala,' said I, pointing out of the window at the
view. ' Polycala,' replied the abbot ; and after this we
gave up all attempts, took our departure, and went to
vespers.
The Archbishop came too, and ensconced himself
in a stall in front of the iconostasis. Whilst the service
was going on we observed that he was busily engaged
with a small volume, apparently reading some passage
over and over again, like a schoolboy getting his task
by heart. Presently the mystery was explained, for
the deacon, coming to a prayer which the highest
ecclesiastic present ought to read, stopped, and the
officiating priest, who was ' in the altar,' as the Greeks
say, and the Archbishop began the prayer together.
The priest having a stentorian voice, and of course
knowing Slavonic perfectly, would have overmatched
a less resolute prelate than ours, who was naturally
severely handicapped. But Philotheos, who was not
going to be done out of his prayer after having taken
all the trouble to get it up, stuck manfully to his
rights, stumbling heavily over the consonants of that
wonderful language until the priest, thinking that
something was wrong, turned round and saw how
matters stood. Thus the Archbishop had the end of
his prayer to himself; but I am sorry to say I saw
several of the monks laughing at his pronunciation.
There is a little shop outside the walls of Russico,
Y 2
324 MOUNT ATHOS
where icons, crosses, and other rehgious goods of
Russian and native manufacture can be purchased.
We invested in a large supply of these, completely
clearing out the stock of wooden crosses made by the
hermits of Athos.
At midnight, after the development of some nega-
tives, we went to the service for an hour, and then
retired to rest, so as to get up for the Archbishop's mass
the next morning.
325
CHAPTER XX.
The liturgy began very early ; when we arrived at
half-past seven the monks were just about to sing the
Gospel.
Philotheos looked magnificent in his saccos,^ or
dalmatic, of the richest crimson silk, stiff with gold ; he
wore also the crown we had seen on the head of the
abbot. The service was gorgeous in the extreme, and
lasted for several hours. It was different from any
service we had taken part in, for a bishop's mass en-
tails distinct and more elaborate ceremonies. How
difficult it is to follow these Oriental rites ! The services
consist of a series of surprises, and sometimes even
the monks seem to *be at a loss as to what is coming
next.
As we went to the great chamber for coffee the
Archbishop said in an aside to us, 'If we had been in
my mdtropole I should have taken you behind the
iconostasis to see all the rites ; here the Russians are
so superstitious and bigoted that they would have been
offended.'
About three o'clock we paid another visit to the
abbot, to take leave of him, the conversation being as
desultory as it had been the day before. He accom-
panied us to the gate, and amidst the ringing of bells
^ Worn by metropolitans when celebrating the liturgy, instead of the
phcenoliofiy or Eastern chasuble, the Eucharistic vestment of priests.
126
MOUNT ATHOS
we walked to the beach, where we found a nice rowing-
boat, into which our luggage had been packed, and
two excellent rowers. We started at half-past three,
and reached Xenophou in half an hour, after a pleasant
transit over the smooth waters of the gulf, in the com-
pany of one or two of the Russian monks, including
Magfistrion. Our friend chatted to us in French the
whole time, chiefly about his native country, Bulgaria,
which he lauded in his pet phrase, * Ah ! quel beau pays!
MONASTERY OF ST. XENOPHON.
Je vous assure, monsieur, un pays excellent! All the
while those two devoted friends Pantele and Peter
were sitting together on the top of the luggage in the
bows, the latter improving the occasion by giving his
gossip a theological lecture, to which Pantele was
listening with becoming reverence, having the greatest
admiration for his friend's clerkship; for was not Peter
going to be a holy man and a deacon, and sing litanies
in the church ?
GARDEN OF XENOPHOU 327
The Monastery of Xenophou, or St. Xenophon, is
quite close to the water, there being only a little strip
of garder; betv/een the walls and the sea. The usual
reception being over, we went out with the camera
to take a photograph before the light faded. After
dragging the apparatus up and down hill, and over
walls and fences, trying to find a good position, we
were at last obliged to content ourselves with one
from the end of the breakwater, giving the sea front of
the monastery, which O — took whilst I joined a monk
and two labourers to make a foreground. Then we
had a delicious bathe, which much refreshed us, as the
day had been very hot, and afterwards joined the Arch-
bishop and the abbot in the garden by the sea. It
was the very ideal of a garden ; everything growing
most luxuriantly, lemon trees and oranges, figs, pome-
granates, and vines, all laden with fruit, down to the
very edge of the water. As we sauntered along the
paths the fresh salt breeze mingled with the scent of
oranges, and limes,*and flowers — all those sweet per-
fumes which in the evening the weary earth sends
forth as thank offerings when the oppressive day-heats
have departed. For
Jam sol recedit igneus,
that red orb had begun to disappear behind the pro-
montory of Sithonia, and the shadows were already
gathering over the waters of the gulf. All was calm
and quiet; the insects had ceased to hum, and only the
rippling of the wavelets and the sound of distant mule
bells broke the stillness of the air.
I had been reading a little pocket edition of Bacon's
Essays that morning, and as I strolled through the
328 MOUNT ATHOS
orange trees his quaint words came into my mind :
* God Almightie first planted a Garden, and, indeed, it
is the Purest of Humane pleasures.'
Xenophou contains within its walls nine churches —
1. The new catholicon, dedicated to St. George ;
2. The old catholicon, St. George, containing two paracclesia,
St. Demetrius and St. Lazarus ;
3. The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin ;
4. The Holy Apostles ;
5. St. Stephen ;
6. St. John the Divine ;
7. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin ;
8. The Holy Unmercenaries ;
9. St. Euphemia :
and eight exocclesia —
1. St. Philip ;
2. St. Theodore Tyro ;
3. St. Tryphon ;
4. The Holy Trinity (cemetery chapel) ;
5. St. Anthony ;
6. The Prophet Daniel ;
7. St. Nicholas ;
8. St. Nicholas.
The monastic buildings form three sides of a very
large square planted with orange trees, the fourth being
a high wall. In the centre of this courtyard is the new
catholicon, which was commenced in 1819 and finished
in 1836, the architect being an Ephesian. To this we
were taken first, on the morning after our arrival.
It is a fine large church, as the measurements in the
note will show.^ The dome over the nave is about
' Sanctuary : across chord of east apse, lyh feet ; from north to south,
including chapels, 57^ feet ; from iconostasis to end of east apse, 23 feet.
Nave : across iconostasis, 45 feet ; across transepts, 57^ feet ; from icono-
XENOPHOU CATHOLICON 329
2 2 feet in diameter, and is supported, as usual, by four
columns. The narthex also has a co'"responding dome,
but the supporting pillars are closer together, the
dome itself smaller and flanked by four small domes.
There is a pronaos, which returns for a short way
north and south.
The iconostasis is very handsome and in good
taste, being built of grey Athos marble, relieved with
gilding ; the bishop's throne is of the same material.
The walls of this church have not yet been painted,
owing to want of funds ; they are left rough and un-
plastered ; only one of the domes, the central one in
the narthex, contains the usual frescoes. Two old
Byzantine mosaics of St. George and St. Demetrius
are placed on the two west pillars of the narthex, and
between the narthex and the nave are two splendid
old doors, made of walnut inlaid with mother-of-pearl,
which came originally from Constantinople.
The following relics are preserved in this church :
a drop of the blood of St. John the Baptist ; part of
the head of St. Stephen Protomartyr ; the skull of St.
Tryphon ; the jaw of St. Arcadhis (son of the founder) ;
two pieces of the True Cross, prettily mounted in silver
filigree crosses. In the pronaos we noticed two Y-
shaped instruments, one of wood, the other of iron,
used for beatmg the semantra with double strokes on
Easter Day.
The old catholicon, also in the courtyard, is a small
but interesting church. Neyrat^ says he saw the date
stasis to west wall of nave, 40J, or to west wall of narthex, 82^ feet.
Thus it will be seen that, allowing for the thickness of the dividing wall,
the narthex is the same length as the nave.
' L Athos. Paris and Lyons, 1880.
330 MOUNT ATHOS
976 over the door ; but it cannot be earlier, I think,
than the thirteenth century. Like the new catholicon
it is dedicated to the Patron of England. The walls
are covered with paintings in a bad condition, and there
are some fine marbles in the floor and the door jambs.
On the south side of the sanctuary is a tiny paracclesi
dedicated to St. Demetrius, entered by a low door from
the nave ; on the south side of the narthex is another
paracclesi of equally small proportions, dedicated to the
Lazarus whom Our Lord raised from the dead.
A stream of water runs under the marble floor of the
church across the transepts ; two holes covered with
wooden plates comm.unicate with the watercourse.
The refectory is small. Both this and the narthex
of the old catholicon are said to have been painted at
the charges of the voivode Mataies Bassarabas, and
Comnenus says that he is represented with his wife on
the walls of the refectory.
After seeing the old catholicon we were taken up a
rickety wooden staircase to the library, a small, dark,
unsavoury room. It contains 160 manuscripts, nine of
which are on vellum, one of these being an evangelis-
tarium of the twelfth century. There is a service book
with music, well written, on paper, with four fine illu-
minations of late Byzantine work, these being in good
preservation ; also three rolls of liturgies, probably
the same that Curzon saw, not very ancient or
interesting.
I should mention that this traveller's name is handed
down as that of a thief, and the monks declared that
he had stolen two of the best manuscripts. So O —
defended our countryman by making Angelos translate
for their benefit the amusing passage from his book ;
THE MISSING VOLUME
OO
but whether he convinced them that Curzon had fairly
purchased the manuscripts I cannot say.
We went through the list of books given in the
' Monasteries of the Levant,' and asked for the quarto
evangelistarium, bound in red velvet with silver clasps.
This book they denied all knowledge of
'What are you saying ?' asked the Archbishop.
We replied that we were asking for a manuscript
of the Gospels mentioned in one of our books.
' What have you done with it ? ' said the Arch-
bishop, turning to the monks.
' We never had it,' replied they.
* Then how could it have got into the Englishman's
book ? ' said he. ' I believe you have sold it. I shall
write and tell the Patriarch.'
' Tell anybody you like,' was the rejoinder ; * we
never had the horrid book.'
Words got higher and higher, the Archbishop
storming at the monks, and I don't know how the
matter would have *ended unless they had thought of
a happy expedient.
' Oh,' said they, * is it a book of the Gospels you
are asking for, an old book ? '
' Yes,' replied the incensed prelate, ' a very old
book.'
' Bound in red velvet ? '
' Yes.'
' With silver clasps ? '
* Yes,' said he, ' that is the book I want.'
* That book ? oh, that is in the church, in the new
catholicon,' said they.
•Very well,' replied the Archbishop, 'then we will
go and see it.'
332 MOUNT ATIIOS
* At this the monks' countenances fell, and after
trying to put him off with several lame excuses they
finally declared that since we had left the church the
key had most unfortunately and mysteriously disap-
peared, and they feared they should be unable to
gratify the Archbishop's curiosity.
' Ah,' said he, ' ah, a capital story, no doubt, and
I suppose you expect me to believe it ? It is quite
plain, however, that you have sold it.'
We discovered long afterwards, to our annoyance,
that we had made a mistake about this manuscript, as
it was one of the two that Curzon took away with him.
But no great harm was done, as the Archbishop in all
probability soon forgot the whole matter.
We returned to our room and obtained information
about the monastery. It was founded about the year
1081 by St. Xenophon, a noble of Constantinople, as-
sisted, it is said, by the Emperor Nicephorus Botaniates
and Alexius Comnenus. Readers of Mr. Curzon's
book will remember that one of his purchases at this
monastery was a manuscript partly in the handwriting
of the latter emperor. St. Arcadius, whose jaw is
preserved amongst the relics, was the son of St.
Xenophon and lived at Jerusalem. A monk named
Symeon seems to have had some connexion with the
foundation ; he had been of high rank under the
Emperor Nicephorus. In 1545 the monastery was
restored by Ducas Bornicus and his brother Radulas,
Hospodars of Hungaro-Vallachia. There are at pre-
sent 1 05 monks and twenty-five servants ; the coenobite
rule is observed. The abbot's name is Stephen.
Xenophou possesses lands in Cassandra. The
revenue from the lands lost in Roumania was over
THE ARCHBISHOP LOITERS 333
1,440// Perhaps this may account for the unfinished
state of the catholicon. It has twenty-three calyvia,'"^
one kelli, and seven cathismata, which are attached to
seven out of the eight exocclesia above mentioned, the
eighth church being the cemetery chapel.
From our window we could see a heavy storm was
brewing, the head of the gulf being black with clouds
which were rapidly approaching. We made frantic
efforts to get off, knowing that Docheiariou was quite
close, so that we could easily reach our next resting-
place before the rain came. Our luggage was all
packed and on the landing-stage, and the boat and
rowers ready, but for some reason the Archbishop
chose to dawdle, as I believe on purpose, for Ave had
roused him after only three-quarters of an hour's kef,
and he wished to show that he was not to be hurried.
After about half an hour he at last started from the
divan and sauntered leisurely down to the beach,
stopping every now and then to talk to the monks,
whilst we were doing our best to urge him on, for the
sky overhead was looking as black as pitch. But a
just retribution overtook him.
We got into our boat, the luggage following in
another, just as the storm broke. The rain came
down in sheets, and the sea, which had been perfectly
calm, was suddenly lashed into fury by the vehemence
of the squall. Our little boat rocked like a nutshell
on the crested waves, and the spray dashing over the
boat, added to the rain, saturated everybody except
me; for I had fortunately provided myself with my
^ Archimandrite Porphyry.
"^ Perhaps attached to the skete of the Annunciation, which, according
to the author of 'o'A^wy, 1885, belongs to Xenophou. I did not hear of
this skete.
334 MOUNT ATHOS
great waterproof riding-cloak, which kept me quite
dry. The Archbishop, who, as I have said before, was
by no means fond of the sea, began to get seriously
alarmed, muttering what I suppose were prayers under
his breath. * Nous avons mal fait,' said he, ' tres mal
fait.' He was steering, and in his anxiety to be close
to the land in case of swamping he began to point the
boat's head towards the shore. We had to pass a little
headland before reaching the port, which was on the
other side of it, in fair weather not more than a quarter
of an hour from the port of Xenophou. The monks
who were rowing our boat looked round and saw the
danger, for we were going straight upon the rocks, in-
deed there were isolated rocks all along by the shore.
They motioned to the Archbishop to keep us out, but
he still steered in the direction of the rocks, muttering,
* A terre ! a terre ! ' Seeing that the position was
desperate, I was obliged to reach behind the prelate,
and I am ashamed to say that for some moments there
was a little struggle for the mastery, the Archbishop
pulling one way and I the other ; but this was a case
in which I ventured to oppose episcopal authority, and
it ended in my being master of the tiller. The rowers
toiled at the oars ; the boat laboured heavily through the
waves, and we appeared to be rather going back than
advancing, for the squall was right in our teeth. The
Archbishop still shouted, * A terre, Riley ! a terre ! '
The thunder roared and the lightning played around
us. Altogether I was not sorry when we gained the
breakwater and shot into the little harbour. Here
the rest went into shelter whilst I superintended the
landing of the baggage.
The storm passed away as quickly as it came, and
DOCHEIARIOU 335
the usual procession greeted us at the gateway of the
monastery. The Archbishop, however, being very wet,
was for not going through the usual ceremony, but the
entreaties of the monks prevailed; he consented to
don the cope over his streaming garments, and we
went to the catholicon. But the service was con-
ducted with maimed rites, the Archbishop, to save time,
saying his portion whilst the priest was singing his,
and finally, throwing off his cope, made his exit before
the chanting was half finished. Once seated on the
divan, with a dry cloak and a cup of hot coffee, his
good humour returned, and we were soon deep in
conversation with the epitropoi, Antonius and the
deacon Synesius ; both being particularly courteous
and kind, and the latter a man of superior education
from the college at Chalki.
Docheiariou is built on the side of a hill, and the
buildings are thereby rendered the more picturesque in
their irregularity as they ascend from the shore. Our
lodgings were situated in the upper part, which is
protected by a wall and a strong tower or keep, doubt-
less designed to defend the convent from any attack
from the rising ground on the hill above. Here is a
little terrace, from which you may look down into the
confined courtyard, where grow orange trees and one
of the few palms to be found on the promontory ; over
the roofs of the conventual buildings you may see the
blue waters of the gulf. Two castellated buildings,
one half ruined, both on the shore to the right, add to
the view. And that afternoon we saw it at its best ;
for even as we stood upon the terrace the sun burst
through the storm clouds and lighted up the surface of
the sea.
336 MOUNT ATHOS
The catholicon,^ dedicated to the Holy Archangels,
possesses two nartheces. There is nothing of any
particular interest in the building or in its contents,
but as we managed to take a very fair photograph of
its interior, and it is a good specimen of an Athos
catholicon, I have had the photograph reproduced as
an illustration. The camera was placed in the door-
way between the nave and thenarthex ; thus the chief
feature in the picture is the iconostasis, which stretches
across it. In the centre are the holy doors, which,
being open, disclose the holy table immediately be-
yond, with its cross and candlesticks. The doors
leading to the diaconicon and chapel of the prothesis
are concealed behind the pillars. On the right of the
holy doors is the icon of Our Lord, on the left that of
the Blessed Virgin ; beyond these on either side are
other icons, and it will be observed that a small copy
of each icon is placed underneath the original to re-
ceive the kisses of the faithful ; this is done partly for
convenience, partly for the sake of the better preserva-
tion of the icons. The two eastern pillars of the four
that support the central dome are of marble ; affixed to
that on the right is the icon of the Holy Archangels.
Many lamps and candelabra are suspended in front of
the sacred pictures, and tapers in massive brass candle-
sticks burn before them. The great corona, with its
innumerable candles, lamps and ostrich eggs dependent
from it, hangs under the central dome ; the pretty finely
inlaid desk for the icon of the saint bf the day, with its
four slender columns supporting a canopy, stands in its
' Measurements : Sanctuary : across the chord of east apse, I3|^feet ;
from north to south, including side chapels, 35^ feet. Nave : across
transepts, 43 feet ; from iconostasis to west wall, 30^ feet ; esonartKex,
from east to west, 38^ feet.
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DOCHEIARIOU THE GORGOYPECOOS 337
almost invariable place, a few feet from the iconostasis
on the right of the holy doors. A few of the stasidia,
or stalls, come into the picture.
The library contains about 300 manuscripts,
sixty-two on vellum. We saw a virofxvyjixaTa twv
ayibiVy or memoir of the saints, with illuminations ;
not a particularly "fine book, but probably the one
alluded to by Mr. Tozer. None of the manuscripts
are of any great age ; I saw no uncials. The porch of
the monastery contains a fresco of the parable of the
good Samaritan, who is depicted in the act of conduct-
ing the stranger to the inn, which is represented by
Docheiariou.
The refectory is ancient and its walls are frescoed.
Here the monks still dine on feast days, the coenobite
having been exchanged for the idiorrhythmic rule some
1 20 years ago. Close to the refectory is a little oratory
containing the renowned icon of the Gorgoypecoos.
Originally this oratory was merely a passage leading
to the refectory, and the sacred picture but a repre-
sentation of the Blessed Virgin painted on the wall.
In the year 1654 the chief butler, a monk called
Nilos, was passing through the passage in the dis-
charge of his duties, carrying for the purposes of light
a flaming torch. As he passed the picture he heard a
voice saying :
"AXKoTi VOL ftrj 8uk6rj<i kvTCvOcv fie SaSta, KaTrvL^iov r^v ifirjv cucova
(Never again pass through hence, fouHng with smoke of thy link
my image).
But Nilcs took no notice, thinking that one of his
brethren was playing him a trick. Not many days
after he was again proceeding through the passage,
when he was again addressed, in severer terms.
z
338 MOUNT ATHOS
*0 fxoi/a)(€ dfj.6va)(€, ews iroT€ dvcvXa^tos Koi dTi/xw? KaTrvti^cis t^v
t/A^v fjiop(f>riv ;
(O monk, unworthy of the name, how long impiously and irre-
verently foulest thou with smoke my image ?)
And this time blindness fell upon Nilos, and the
brethren found the chief butler on his face before the
picture. At his entreaty, however, the Theotocos
healed him, speaking to him the third time.
*n /Aova^c, el(rr]KOv<T6r) r/ S4r](TL<s crow Trpo? fie, /cat eao (Tvy^wp-qfiivo^,
Kol pXeiroiv 0)5 kuI irporepov • dvayyetXov 8e /cat rots Aoittois evacr/cou/Aevots
Trarpdcrt /cat (ruvaSeXt^ots crou, ort cyw ct/At 17 I^V''~'1P '''^^ ©eov Aoyou, Kai
fiera 0eov r^s icpas Tarrr/s ixovrj<: rdv app^ayycAwf a-Keirr) kol /SoyOeia xat
Kparata TrpocTTatrta, Trpovoovfiivrj virep avrrj^ ws vn-e/3/Aa;(o? Kv/Sepvrjrrjs'
Koi cts TO c^s ot /xovaxol as KaTa(f>evy(j)crt. Trpos e/AC 8ta KaOerovs avdyKrjv,
Kol yopyws 6eA,ci> vTra/couo) avroiv, /cat Traj/Tcoi/ twv /act' evXafieia^
KaTa(f>evy6vT(iiV els ifJik 6p6oSo$(iiv j^pUTTiavuiV, OTi FopyovTrTyKOOS
KaXor/Aat.
(O monk, thy prayer hath been heard in mine ears, and thou shalt
have thy desire and shalt see as heretofore. And tell the rest also,
the fathers and thy brethren, that I am the Mother of the Word of
God, and next to God I am of this holy monastery of the Arch-
angels the stay, and succour, and strong patroness, providing for it
as its Ruler and Champion. And henceforth let the monks fly to
me when in distress, and I will listen to them readily, and to all
orthodox Christians that have recourse to me religiously, for that I
am called the Ready Listener.)
Such is the legend of the Gorgoypecoos, as re-
lated in a book presented to me by the epitropoi of
the monastery.^
One of the doorways into the passage has now been
blocked up, and as there is no window the place is very
' nP02KYNHTAPI0N TOY BA2IAIK0Y, HATPIAPXIKOY, 2TAYP0-
nnriAKOY te, kai sebasmioy iepoy monasthpioy toy aoxei-
APEIOY, TOY EN TOt AFIONYMflt OPEI TOY AOQNOS. Bucharest,
1843.
A LEGEND OF DOCHEIARIOU 339
dark, but by the light of the lamps and candles which
burn continually before the icon one can see part of
the old picture peeping through the glistering metallic
cover, which, we were told, was added ten years ago
at the cost of 60,000 piastres.
One more legend must I mention, for it is a famous
story and has given to the monastery its patron saints.
Old Archbishop Georgirenes shall tell the tale.
He says that the convent is called ' Archangeli,
which had before another name, but changed to this
upon this occasion. A young Caloir, that was tilling
the Ground abroad, found a Treasure in an old Urn,
and brought the news of it to the Superiour of the
Convent ; he sent with the young Man two other
Caloirs, who finding the Treasure, agreed between
themselves to kill the Boy, and share it betwixt them ;
and so they ty'd a Stone about his neck, and cast him
into the Sea, and hiding the Treasure, came to the
Superiour, and told him the Boy had deceiv'd them,
and was run away. *Next morning the Sexton found
the Boy and the Stone about his neck in the Church,
who discover'd all, and told that the Angels Gabriel
and Raphael ^ brought him thither. The two Caloirs
thus convicted, were banish'd, and the Stone set up as
a Monument to this day.'
Another account gives the name of the boy as Basil,
and states that the treasure was found at the foot of
a pillar on the promontory of Longos, opposite to
Docheiariou. On this pillar was an inscription, '^^ the
sense of which none could discover until Basil inter-
preted it, and digging where the shadow fell when the
* AH accounts except that of Comnenus agree in substituting Michael
for Raphael. See below.
"^ 'O Kpovaai fif Kara KfC^aX^s fvpicTKfi n\TJdos ;(puo'tov.
Z 2
340 MOUNT ATHOS
sun rose, he found the hidden treasure. Three monks
are tempted by the devil to drown the boy, who is
rescued by Gabriel and Michael, and found in the
bema of the catholicon by the abbot, St. Neophytus.
On another occasion the Holy Archangels are said
to have preserved this monastery from the attacks of
the Saracens.
There seems to be no reason for doubting that
Docheiariou was founded in the tenth century by St.
Euthymius, bursar (So-)(eLdpLos:) of the Lavra and friend
of St. Athanasius of Athos, assisted by his kinsman St.
Neophytus. This was in the reign of Nicephorus, not
Nicephorus Botanlates, as some accounts allege, for he
lived a century too late, but Nicephorus Phocas. An
hegoumenos of Docheiariou is mentioned by name in
a document of the year 1092.^
The pious couple, Alexander the voivode and his
wife Roxandra, restored the monastery in 1578, after
its destruction by pirates ; they are said to have rebuilt
and adorned the catholicon at this time.
Besides the catholicon, dedicated to the Holy Arch-
angels, there are eight esocclesia, under the following
patronage :
The Forty Martyrs,
The Gorgoypecoos,
The Holy Unmercenaries,
The Three Hierarchs,
St. George,
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
The Archangels (at the top of the tower) ;
and without the walls —
St. Peter of Athos,
» Muralt.
WE GO A-FISHING 34 1
St. Onouphrius,'
The Transfiguration,
St. Nicholas (cemetery chapel).
No sketes are attached to the monastery, and
although it possesses a few cottages and vineyards it
has no proper kellia or cathismata. A few farms belong
to it near Erisso and Cassandra. The total number of
monks is sixty, and they have ten servants. I have
already mentioned that they follow the idiorrhythmic
rule.
We had intended to leave Docheiariou the day after
our arrival, being Saturday, but at the Archbishop's
request we put off our departure until the Sunday.
On Saturday morning our prelate produced a gi-
gantic hook from his travelling bag and proposed a
fishing expedition. Accordingly we put out a little
way into the gulf in two rowing-boats, and amused
ourselves with the lines for nearly a couple of hours.
At the end of that time we compared accounts, and
found that whilst I liad caught two or three fish about
the size of a large minnow, and O — had taken no-
thing, the descendant of the Fishermen had landed a
good basketful of fish, which proved an acceptable
addition to our midday meal. After vespers we took
a walk in the garden up the hill, and saw a water-mill
of curious construction, and two cypresses of such a
size that they overtopped the tower, far finer than those
at the Lavra.
In the kitchen garden were growing vegetables in
great luxuriance ; chiefly tomatoes, aubergines, onions,
garlic, cabbages, and baniahs.
' An Egyptian hermit who lived in the fourth centuiy, about the time
of the Council of Nica:a.
342 MOUNT ATHOS
After supper the conversation turned upon eccle
siastical music, and the monks asked us to give them a
specimen of English Church music, which we did.
Nobody seemed to think much of it, and the Arch-
bishop suggested that if one of the epitropoi would
favour us with ' Macarios dneer ' (* Blessed is the man,'
Psalm i.) we might hear something worth listening to.
But the epitropoi protested, with becoming modesty,
that they did not feel themselves qualified to sing in
such exalted presence, and hinted that the Archbishop
himself should chant the psalm.
For the first few minutes we tried to look interested
and pleased, but then the strain became unbearable.
The Archbishop, usually the very type of Oriental
languor, had worked himself up to the highest pitch of
excitement. His eyes sparkled, his body swayed from
side to side, semitones and quartertones poured forth
from his throat ; he was singing at the very top of his
voice. Soon we discovered thai he was still engaged
upon the last syllable of dneei% and O — whispered to
me that unless the chant ended speedily he should be
obliged to leave the room ; indeed, it was all I could do
to prevent his departure. At the end of a quarter of
an hour the Archbishop was exhausted. We never
mentioned the subject of music again.
343
CHAPTER XXI.
We left for Constamonitou at a quarter to ten the next
morning. The others had already mounted their mules,
and I was just about to follow their example, when one
of the polite epitropoi ordered my saddle cloth to be
removed and a fresh one to be procured.
* For,' said he, ' we cannot let you depart on an old
cloth.'
' Indeed, it is good enough,' said I.
' No,' said the epitropos.
* Please let me go without it,' said I.
* That is not to be thought of,' replied the monk.
By this time the others were well on their road,
which winds up the*hill through a forest, and so, re-
signing myself to the delays of ceremony, I sent the
baggage after them, only retaining Peter behind with
me. Nearly ten minutes elapsed before a Turkey rug
of gorgeous hues made its appearance, which I bestrode,
and, doffing my hat to the assembled community, at
length took my departure. Soon we came up with the
baggage, and found that one of the mules' burdens had
fallen, the muleteers being busily engaged in replacing
it. This accomplished we proceeded up the forest path,
but before another three-quarters of an hour had elapsed
I saw signs of the pack-saddle again giving way. One
of the men on foot also perceived this and ran forward
to save it, but too late, for the basket, which was slung
344
MOUNT ATIIOS
on one side, turned a somersault over the mule's back and
fell heavily on the top of the Archbishop's * pragmata/
which were slung on the other. Again another delay of
ten minutes occurred. When at last we gained the crest
of the hill beneath which Constamonitou lies in a charm-
ing valley away from the sea, we were full half an hour
behind the other four members of the party ; already,
methought, must the Archbishop and O — be sipping
CONSTAMONITOU,
their coffee within the little monastery whose white
towers peeped out from the trees in front.
Having reached the gate I soon made my way
upstairs, and was greeted by O — , who hastily de-
manded what had detained us.
'Why ?' said I, noticing that the Archbishop was
not in the best of tempers, * has anything happened ? '
' Yes, indeed,' replied he, * something has happened,
and a nice fuss there's been about it too.' In a few
words he told me what had occurred.
THE ARCHBISHOP MISSES HIS CLOAK 345
It seems that when they had surmounted the hill,
and had come in sight of Constamonitou, the bells of
the monastery began to peal forth ; but before they had
gone far the Archbishop, remembering that he was
riding in his undress cloak of grey cloth lined with er-
mine, turned to Pantele and demanded his black cloak.
Pantele replied that Peter had it, behind with the bag-
gage.
* Then go back and look for Peter,' said the Arch-
bishop.
Away went Pantele to the top of the hill, whilst
the little party halted on the road. The cavass, after
scanning the country towards Docheiariou, returned
with the dismal news that no Peter was to be seen, and
he feared that he must be some distance behind. The
Archbishop looked very cross at this intelligence, for,
finding that nobody arrived, the monks had ceased
to ring the bells, and those of them who had come
down to meet the prelate with cross, and candles, and
incense began glancing round the corner of the gate-
way to see what had become of him. O — ventured
to suggest that perhaps, all things being considered, it
might be better to go on without waiting for Peter.
' No,' said the Archbishop, ' I shall not stir without
my cloak.'
Presently the abbot of the monastery was seen
advancing towards them. He came to inquire the
reason of the delay, and on being informed said that
he felt sure that he was expressing the sentiments of
his brethren in saying that they were too much ho-
noured by the visit of the Archbishop to think anything
of the absence of his proper dress. But Philotheos
was not to be persuaded.
346 MOUNT ATHOS
' No,' said he, ' I shall not move from this place
without my cloak.'
Finding that his words produced no effect, the abbot
departed, and Pantele was again despatched to the
hill-top, and again returned without any tidings of the
missing Peter. Meanwhile the archiepiscopal mule,
which had been snorting and pawing the ground,
and otherwise giving signs of uneasiness, was discovered
to be bleeding violently from the mouth, and on exa-
mination it was found that a leech had managed to
attach itself to the poor animal's palate whilst it had
been drinking at some wayside fountain. O — eagerly
seized upon this circumstance as an excuse for urging
an immediate move in the direction of the monastery,
where the mule could be properly attended to, and
remarked that they might have to wait an hour for
Peter.
* No matter,' replied the incensed prelate, looking
as black as thunder. ' No matter if we have to wait
here three hours. I shall not stir a step without my
cloak.'
At this juncture the abbot was seen again ap-
proaching. This time he came with an offer. If his
Holiness would deign to wear his cloak for the cere-
mony of reception it was at the disposal of his Holi-
ness. The Archbishop gave one more glance at the hill-
top, and finding no prospect of Peter's speedy advent,
accepted the compromise, moved somewhat, I make no
doubt, by the mental comparison of the delights of a
soft divan and a cup of hot coffee with the hard pack-
saddle of a restive mule. Again the bells pealed forth,
the candles in the porch were relighted, and at last he
was safely landed within the walls of Constamonitou.
CONSTAMONITOU — FOUNDATION 347
But the innocent cause of all the trouble did not escape.
As Peter entered the guest chamber Pantele whispered
something into his ear, which was doubtless Greek
for * Yotiregoingto catch it \ and later in the day I
heard something about a staff — a poemdntike ravdos I
think it was — and a pair of sore shoulders !
Breakfast was a long time coming, and when it did
appear at half-past twelve it was quite uneatable, owing
to the bad oil and rancid butter with which everything
was cooked. The hegoumenos, by name Ananias,
and the pro-hegoumenos, Simeon, an intelligent, kindly
old man, but without much learning, entertained us
after breakfast with an account of the monastery. Its
early history is involved in obscurity. The tradition
of its foundation by Constantine the Great and his son
Constans in the fourth century cannot be entertained,
although its rejection suggests a difficulty in the deriva-
tion of its name and compels us to choose one of
three theories — that its original name was changed
when the legend of ks remote foundation came to be
received as genuine ; that the part taken by the great
Emperor in bringing the relics of its patron from the
Holy Land to his capital suggested the connexion of
Constantine with St. Stephen's monastery ; or that its
unknown founder bore the name of Constantine or of
Constans. Some think it was founded about the
middle of the eleventh century, but, be its early history
what it may, it is certain that Manuel II. Palaeologus
(1391-1425) benefited it, for the chrysobull of that em-
peror was noticed by Curzon, and I believe it still exists
amongst the monastic documents, although we did not
see it. The convent has passed through many vicis-
situdes and has been ruined more than once, and an
348 MOUNT ATHOS
obscure Servian princess called Anna Philanthropine
once restored it, but when she lived I have not been
able to make out. For eighty years before 1852 it
remained utterly decayed and ruined, and in that
year the old pro-hegoumenos Simeon and his master,
Joseph, who came from the convent of Mount Sinai,
found only two monks left amongst the ruins.
Joseph and Simeon were fired with zeal for the
restoration of the monastery to its ancient splendour,
and the former went to Russia to raise money for the
purpose. In 1S66, at the age of eighty- four, Joseph
went the way of all flesh, having laid up treasure, like
King David, for the building of the temple which his
eyes were not to see, and in the following year his
spiritual son Simeon commenced the work. It was
built on the site of the old ruined catholicon, which
was much smaller, and was completed in 1869. In
1 88 1 Simeon, feeling that his life's work was at an
end, laid down his authority, having been abbot for
thirty years. He is now seventy-five years of age,
and has never once tasted flesh meat since he was
fifteen, at which age he first embraced the religious life.
Though now old and infirm he insisted upon conducting
us in person over the church, the crown of his earthly
labours.^ It possesses a beautiful iconostasis of marble,
partly from the native quarries, partly from those of
Tenos.
There is a pronaos, which returns slightly on the
northern and southern sides of the narthex ; in fact the
• The measurements of this church are : Sanctuary : from north to
south, including side chapels, 30 feet ; across chord of cast apse, i^h
feet ; from iconostasis to end of east apse, 14 feet. Nave : across tran-
septs, 42 feet ; from iconostasis to west wall of nave, 30 feet; from icono-
stasis to west wall of narthex, 58 feet.
CONSTAMONITOU — RELICS AND CHURCHES 349
church is built on the same plan as the new catholi-
con at Xenophou. At present the interior walls are
merely whitewashed, the monastery not being yet in a
position to afford frescoes.
First amongst the relics comes a piece of the True
Cross, mounted in an exquisite reliquary, a cross of
silver gilt richly enamelled and set with turquoises,
rubies, pearls, and coral, ornamented at the top with
two small movable birds. It is in three pieces — cross,
stem, and stand — and is altogether a very fine work of
art. The catholicon also contains portions of the
relics of St. Stephen, patron saint of the convent, to
whom the church is dedicated, of St. Andrew, of St.
Luke, and of St. Panteleemon, the skull of St. Blaise/
and a piece of Our Lord's coat. The number of monks
at Constamonitou is now fifty, with six servants ; they
follow the coenobite rule. The convent owns two farms
in Longos. One of them was recently bought by the
two restorers ; the other is said to have been presented
to the monastery by the Emperor John Palaeologus.^
The convent lost but little land in Moldavia.
Esocdesia.
1. The catholicon, dedicated to St. Stephen.
2. St Nicholas (in ruins).
3. All Saints.
4. St. Constantine.
5. The Panaghia Portaitissa.
Exocclesia.
1. The Holy Archangels (cemetery chapel).
2. St. Meletius (attached to a cathisma).
3. St. Anthony -. (both attached to kellia).
4. St. Nicholas J
1 Bishop of Sebaste ; commemorated in our kalendar on Feb. 3, in
the Greek on Feb. ir. " I. or II. ?
350 MOUNT ATHOS
The convent possesses one cathisma and two kellia,
as above. The monastic buildings are mostly new,
but those on the north side of the courtyard are
ancient.
There are rather over a hundred manuscripts in Con-
stamonitou, mostly service books of late date, but there
are fourteen on vellum, among which is a palimpsest,
the new writing consisting of the Gospels ( fourteenth
century) over a Latin martyrology (of the twelfth).
I suspect that the convent originally possessed a large
library, but that during its periods of ruin the books
were either destroyed or dispersed ; probably some
may have found their way to Russico, during the
last period of poverty and ruin, before the restoration
by Simeon and Joseph. For to such a low level had
the fortunes of Constamonitou fallen that at one time
even the monastic virtue of hospitality was neglected.
In the first year of the present century, so the story
goes, there knocked a beggar at the convent gate —
perhaps a poor pilgrim returning to his home laden
with spiritual but destitute of earthly treasures ; or
possibly a hermit, of whom one sees so many when
riding over the rocks or through the forests of the
Holy Mountain, each with his gown tucked up, his
staff in his hand, and a wallet, to contain the dole he
goes to claim, hanging across his back. The porter,
answering to the poor man's supplication, bade him go
elsewhere, for, owing to the present poverty of the monas-
tery, further distribution of alms, whether in money or
in kind, had been prohibited. Thereupon the beggar
upbraided the monk with the foolishness of his fellows
in allowing themselves to lose two brethren who had
long dwelt within the venerable walls of Constamonitou,
STORY OF DIDOTE AND DOTHESETAI 35 1
and whose presence had ever been essential to its
prosperity ; for one of the brethren having been short-
sightedly expelled, the other, inseparable from his
companion, had instantly taken his leave.
* Indeed, I know of no such circumstance,' said the
porter. ' Pray what might have been their names ? '
' Well,' replied the beggar, * the name of the first,
whom you expelled, was Di'dote (JtSore), of the second
Dothesetai [JoOrja-eTai).' ^
The monastery stands at the head of a well-wooded
glen which winds towards the gulf of the Holy Moun-
tain. It is quite out of sight of the sea, and indeed
is some distance from it ; Zographou and Chiliandari
are the only other monasteries which have no sea view.
After dinner this evening O — caught an enormous
bug, which was advancing towards him from a corner
of the divan, evidently bent on a predatory excursion.
Of such fair proportions was he that a threepenny bit
would hardly have covered him. Warned by this and
other specimens of the same breed which we came
across before going to bed, we entrenched ourselves
in our levinges ; and it was well we did so, for the
enemy made an attack in force that night, as was
proved by the number of well-developed prisoners we
made the next morning in the folds of the muslin.
The mosquitoes also kept up a busy hum all night ; in
fact without levinges a night in Constamonitou would
have been intolerable.
» ' GIVE and IT-SHALL-BE-GIVEN unto you.'
o:)-'
MOUNT ATirOS
CHAPTER XXII.
Monday, -^^g^. We rose at six a.m. because for
once the Archbishop was in a hurry to start, and, after
some final conversation with old Simeon over our coffee,
we took our departure at half-past eight. The weather
looked rather threatening, and indeed a few drops fell,
but it cleared up and soon the sun shone brilliantly.
We struck further inland, and crossed several ridges
and valleys, thickly covered with every kind of vege-
tation. At last we came in sight of the stern and
massive walls of Zographou, which is finely situated
in a beautiful glen on the slope of a hill, with a quick
descent from its western side to the bottom of a ravine.
It is surrounded by numerous kellia, and on its northern
side, where is the gateway, the cottages cluster so thickly
together as to form a little village. This charming
valley is full of every kind of tree and shrub, and tall
cypresses stand here and there in dark outline against
the lighter green, or raise their pointed tops above
the foliage of the woods.
On our arrival we were taken upstairs to a large
room at the north-west angle of the building and enter-
tained with glyko and coffee. Then we had breakfast ;
but the dishes proved quite uneatable, and we were
obliged to ask for some boiled eggs. During the monks'
siesta we occupied ourselves with the camera, dragging
it up to the other side of the valley, and succeeded in
ZOGRAPIIOU 353
obtaining a very fair view of the exterior of the mo-
nastery. On our return we found the Archbishop sitting
under the walnut trees on the low wall outside the
gateway, and proposed an inspection of the monastery.
First we went to the catholicon,^ which is only
eighty years old, and although a fine church has no-
thing of interest about it except some beautiful doors
of tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl. It has a pronaos
and is frescoed throughout, but in bad taste.
It contains the following relics : portions of the
Holy Rood, contained in two or three old and pretty
crosses ; the jaw of St. Stephen ; relics of St. George,
St. Andrew the Apostle, St. Barlaam, SS. Cosmas and
Damian, St. Cyril, and the Six-and-Twenty Martyrs.
But what the monks prize most of all their treasures
is the picture tov ZcoypoKJyov, of the Painter, and this
brings us at once to the history of the monastery.
It is said to have been founded in the reign of Leo the
Philosopher^ (886-91 1) by three princes^ named John,
Arsenius, and Alexander, or, according to Comnenus,
John, Moses, and Aaron, who came from Ochrida, the
ancient capital of Bulgaria. When they had built this
' Measurements: Sanctuary : from north to south, including chapels,
38^ feet ; across chord of east apse, 1 5 feet. Nave : across transepts, 54
feet ; from iconostasis to west wall of nave, 27^ ^^^^ > from iconostasis
across nave and narthex to the west wall of latter, 71^ feet.
- This was the emperor who contracted a fourth marriage in the face
of the absolute prohibition of the Oriental Church. Thereupon the brave
and upright patriarch Nicholas excommunicated him. ' Neither the fear
of exile, nor the desertron of his brethren, nor the authority of the Latin
Church, nor the danger of failure or doubt in the succession to the
empire, could bend the spirit of the inflexible monk' (Gibbon). One
cannot help digressing to notice this brilliant exception to the servile
Erastianism of the Byzantine Church.
^ One tradition says they were nephews of Justinian, another that
they were of the family of that great emperor. If they lived in the reign
of Leo the Philosopher the former legend is manifestly absurd.
A A
354 MOUNT ATHOS
monastery the three founders quarrelled over its name.
One wished to dedicate it to the Virgin Mother, the
second to St. Nicholas, the third to St. George. So
they agreed to prepare a panel of wood, such as icons
are wont to be painted on, and having placed it in the
church, to lock the doors and pray that the image of the
saint to whom the monastery should be dedicated might
be imprinted on the wood. When they entered the
church they found the image of St. George on the
panel, and from a belief that the great martyr had
painted his own portrait the monastery acquired its
name.
The above is the story of the picture as told to us
by the monks. John Comnenus, however, after saying
that it was not made by mortal hands, but painted by
the saint himself, makes no mention of the founders*
dispute, but says that it was formerly in a certain
monastery of St. George in the Holy Land, and
changed its abode of its own accord, coming to
Zographou.
The picture is placed on the south-eastern pillar of
the four. On the side of the nose there is a slight ex-
crescence ; this — so the monks said — is either the mark
made by the finger or the top of the finger itself (for
opinions differed) of a certain Bishop of Erisso, who,
to show his disbelief in its supernatural origin, ran his
finger contemptuously into the face of the picture, where
it instantly stuck, and as it could not be withdrawn
the bishop was obliged to have it cut off!
There is another icon of St. George preserved in
this church, which the monks told us was thrown into
the sea by the iconoclasts, was wafted by the waves to
Vatopedi, and from thence was transported to Zographou
ZOGRAPHOU LEGENDS
355
on a mule. Comnenus gives an enlarged account of
this. He says that having left Arabia and crossed the
sea of its own accord, the icon came ashore at Vatopedi.
When the fathers of the other monasteries heard of
this they went to Vatopedi, and a dispute arose as to
which monastery should possess the picture. At last
with one consent they agreed to place it on a wild mule
and send away the animal to wander whither it would.
The mule stopped before the gate of Zographou, and
the monks joyfully coming out to meet it, escorted it
with candles and incense to the church. Some time
after this occurrence certain fathers from an Arabian
monastery came on a pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain,
recognised their old picture, and giving thanks to God
and St. George remained at Zographou to the day of
their death.
Lastly, Archbishop Georgirenes makes mention of
a third picture of St. George. ' There is a little church
not far from the Monastery, that stands alone, and now
is useless ; but having a fair picture of St. George in it,
the Monks thought fit to bring it into their own church ;
but to no purpose, for so often as they brought it, so
often it takes its leave, and is found the next day in
the Church.'
This monastery has always belonged to the Bul-
garians, and at the present time the large majority
of the 1 20 monks belongs to this race, but amongst
them are a few Servians, Greeks, Russians, and
Roumanians. They follow the coenobite rule. There
are besides 150 servants.
It is asserted that in the year 1276, when Michael
Palseologus was emperor and John Veccos patriarch,
the Latins made a descent upon the Holy Mountain
A A 2
356 MOUNT ATIIOS
and destroyed half the Monastery of Zographou.^
This was during the first few years after the overthrow
of the Latin and the re-estabHshment of the Greek
empire at Constantinople in 1261, when the whole of
the Levant was in a turmoil and Michael Palseologus
was wresting one by one the islands of the Archipelago
from the dominion of the Franks. On this occasion
twenty-six of the monks were burnt 'by order of the
Pope of Rome,' and a monument of stone which stands
in the north-west corner of the courtyard marks the
place of their victory. In the catholicon are two
frescoes, one representing the burning of the Six-and-
Twenty Martyrs, the other the Pope at Doomsday
being drawn down into horrible flames by the Fiend.
In this church also is preserved an icon of the Blessed
Virgin, which they say was cast into the fire with these
monks, but was afterwards found unconsumed.
Michael Palseologus restored the monastery, but it
was again ruined — burnt by pirates, it is said — and its
reconstruction was undertaken by Stephen, Voivode of
Moldavia, in the year 1502. All that remains of
Stephen's work is the small refectory at the west end
of the catholicon ; the arsenal or port by the sea also
dates from his time. The rest of the monastery is of
modern construction, having been built since 1858,
except the catholicon, which goes back as far as the
beginning of the century, and, though I cannot speak
with certainty, the church of the Panaghia, also situated
in the centre of the courtyard. Since the time of
Stephen, Zographou has contmued prosperous, and,
whilst it must have lost a revenue of nigh 4,000/.
* The monks of Mount Athos were persecuted by the Latins in 1275
See Murah.
ZOGRAPHOU — CHURCHES 357
from the lands in Roumania, it is one of the wealthiest
convents on the Holy Mountain. The new buildings,
though plain and destitute of detail, are yet built with
great solidity and give the monastery an aspect of
security and massive strength, which to some degree
compensates for the loss of the picturesque. A large
portion of the centre of the west front was under con-
struction during our visit.
It contains nine churches within the walls —
1. The catholicon, dedicated to St. George,
2. The Assumption of the Panaghia,
3. St. Nicholas,
4. The Holy Archangels,
5. The Prodromos,
6. The Transfiguration,
7. St. Demetrius,
8. The Six-and-Twenty Martyrs,
9. St. Cosmas ; '
and outside —
1. The Annunciation *of the Panaghia,
2. St. Nicholas,
3. St. Spyridion,
4. St. John Chrysostom,
5. The Protection of the Panaghia,
6. SS. Peter and Paul,
7. The Nativity of the Panaghia, containing two paracclesia,
dedicated respectively to St. Anthony and to St. John of Ryllo.'^
We were told that the monastery does not boast
of a library ; this is not quite correct. I have since
discovered that there are a few manuscripts, chiefly
Greek music books of late date, and only two Greek
' A Bulgarian hermit of Athos.
* Monk of the monastery of that name, which still exists on the slopes
of Mount Rhodope, in Roumelia.
35^ MOUNT ATHOS
manuscripts on vellum, one being an evangelistarium
of the twelfth century. There may be, and probably
are, some Slavonic manuscripts. The monastery has
no sketes, but three kellia ; also one farm in Thasos
and four in Chalcidice.
The supper this evening was so bad that we were
forced to draw upon our slender stores ; indeed the
oil was worse than that in any other monastery except
Stavroniketa, and the smell in the corridor into which
the kitchen opened, near our rooms, was quite unbear-
able. After the meal we had a short conversation
with our chief host, a pleasant Bulgarian, whose name
I have forgotten ; as he had to go to church at twelve
o'clock for the long night service he soon left us to
have a few hours' sleep. We retired early. The monks
provided us with iron bedsteads ; but as, on making a
minute investigation, we discovered several intruders
(not, however, of the threepenny-bit breed), we put up
our levinges and slept securely.
We left Zographou the next day at two o'clock for
Vatopedi, the Archbishop having promised to celebrate
the liturgy for the monks on their great festival of the
Holy Girdle. Starting from the monastery, we mounted
the hill by a winding path through fine forest scenery,
and then, having reached the top of the ridge, proceeded
through rather stunted vegetation until, catching sight
of the eastern waters, we descended to the bay of
Vatopedi.
On the way I resolved to devote one of our few
remaining dry plates to a photograph of our party,
which was soon to be broken up. It was easy
enough to focus the group, but a difficulty arose as
to who should manipulate the cap. Finally I selected
TAKING A PHOTOGRAPH
359
the most intelligent-looking of the two muleteers and
got the Archbishop to explain his duty to him, which
he did, telling him that at the first word ' Tora ' the
cap was to be removed and at the second replaced.
Having drilled my man by repeating the process two
or three times, I opened the slide and mounted my
mule.
' Attention ! * Everybody tried to look his best.
' Are you all ready } '
' Malista,' said the Archbishop.
OUR CAVALCADE.
' Tora ! ' shouted I. Off came the cap. ' Tora ! '
The muleteer replaced it cleverly.
Here is the result.
Two hours after leaving Zographou we arrived at
Vatopedi, and the kind monks seemed as pleased to
see us as we certainly were to find ourselves back in
this most hospitable monastery ; they vied with each
other in making us as comfortable as possible.
After bathing in the sea we amused ourselves by
strolling through the courts and watching the crowd
of pilgrims, monks, and hermits that had come up to
the feast from all parts of the promontory and the main-
land. Immense cauldrons of rice and other food were
o
60 MOUNT ATHOS
being prepared for them, some in the kitchen and
bakehouses, others over fires kindled in the court-
yard ; the flicker of the flames, lighting up the faces of
monks and laymen, pilgrims and ascetics, gave striking
Rembrandt-like effect as the evening shadows fell and
the crowd gathered in little companies about the fires,
whilst the monastic cooks, with sleeves tucked up and
aprons over their gowns, stirred the contents of the
cauldrons with poles or served out the smoking food
to their guests.
We had dinner with our old friends the epitropoi and
chief monks, and immediately afterwards went to the
catholicon for the commencement of the preat service.
The gorgeous ceremonial of that night beggars all
description ; it was far more elaborate than anything of
the kind that we had seen before on the Holy Mountain.
The space in the centre of the quire under the dome
was the only part of the church that was not crowded
with worshippers, and here the sacred relics were
displayed on tables covered with rich hangings. At one
part of the service, just before an endless procession of
priests and deacons* in the most splendid vestments,
started from the bema to make a* station before the
holy doors, two monks advanced with tapers and
kindled every lamp and candle in the church ; ^ and as
these are not only in standards on the pavement and
burning before the pictures, but are also suspended in
great numbers at various heights, and even close to the
very ceiling of the church, the ancient building was
lighted up with extraordinary brilliancy. When the
last of the multitude of candles had been lighted in
' See the description of the Polyeleos in the account given below of a
similar service at the skete of St. Anne.
THE GREAT SERVICE 36 1
the great coronas under the domes, the monks fetched
long poles ; with these they pushed out the candelabra
to the full extent that their suspending chains permitted
and then let them go, the result being that in a few
moments the whole church was filled with slowly
swinging lights. The effect was indescribably weird.
We remained standing in our stalls for two hours and
a half, watching the endless change of the mystic
ceremonies, and then, overcome by the unaccustomed
strain, retired to our rooms, had a cup of coffee, and
went to bed.
We rose very early the next morning and went
down to the catholicon. The crowd of pilgrims was
too large to allow of all worshipping in the church, and
not only were both nartheces and the pronaos full of
them, but some were following the service in the court
outside. So densely packed was the crowd that it was
as much as two soldiers could do to force a pathway
for us to the quire. Finally we gained our stalls (next
the Archbishop's throne), which had been reserved
for us through the night. The liturgy had already
commenced. The early light was only just beginning
to dawn through the windows, and the church was still
lighted by lamps and tapers. We remained until the
service (or rather services) ended, at nine o'clock, after
having lasted close upon fourteen hours, the Archbishop
himself, as he told us afterwards, not having left the
church for thirteen.
As we attended this great service in a very frag-
mentary manner my reader will pardon me for inserting
in this place the description of a similar one from the
pen of the late Mr. William Palmer, of Magdalen
College, Oxford, almost the only Englishman, save
362 MOUNT ATUOS
Dr. Neale, capable of writing on the subject with ac-
curacy. Mr. Pahner spent a few weeks at Athos with
his brother, the present Archdeacon of Oxford, over
thirty years ago.
The day is Tuesday, July 25th (old style), being the festival of
S. Anne, in the year 1850. The scene is the scete of S. Anne, an
aggregation of hermitages dependent on the Lavra of S. Athanasius.
On Monday afternoon, the eve of the festival, at about twenty
minutes past one p.m. they began the Ninth Hour and the Little
Vespers, upon the conclusion of which they went almost immediately
into the refectory (which in a scete like this exists only for such
occasions) and took their meal, which was accompanied by a long
reading. When this was over it wanted but half an hour of the time
which was fixed for the commencement of Great Vespers, in which
they sang the introductory psalm (Ps. civ.) so slowly (the latter part
of it, too, with the insertion of a short hymn to the Trinity after
every half-verse) that before they had come to the end of it it
wanted only ten minutes of seven. At ten minutes before nine they
went out into the narthex for the Liteia, which on such occasions is
inserted into Vespers. While they were singing the last Sticheron
of the Liteia a few of those present, and in particular the ex-Bishop
of Trajanopolis, who had been invited here from his retreat near the
Lavra to officiate, went out for a few minutes and took a cup of
coffee in the nearest dwelling. The Liteia was over at twenty
minutes to ten. Then they returned into the body of the church
singing the Aposticha of the Vespers, which lasted about an hour
longer, and were followed by the Benediction of the Loaves — another
adjunct of the Great Vespers on such occasions— for which the
Bishop robed in his stall (it being then five minutes to eleven), and
unrobed again immediately afterwards. Then followed, between the
Great Vespers and the Matins (the Nocturn being omitted, or rather
being superseded by the Great Vespers on such occasions), a reading
at the lectern in the middle of the church, about the Departure or
Rest of S. Anne. At twenty minutes past eleven they began the
Matins, at which there was a reading of a homily (from a MS. col-
lection by Macarius of Patmos), after the second of the two Cathisms
of the Psalter. About twenty minutes past twelve they began to
light up the church for the Polyeleos, the singing of which was drawn
DESCRIPTION OF A SERVICE 363
out to a great length and accompanied by insertions after each half-
verse, like those of the introductory psalm in the Vespers. It was
finished at a quarter to two a.m. At a quarter past two the Gospel
was read. The singing of the Canons, broken by two readings, one
after Ode III. and the other after that of the Synaxarion, which
followed Ode VI., lasted from twenty-five minutes past two till
nearly four o'clock. At half- past four, or thereabouts, the Matins
ended, and so did the First Hour at five o'clock. There was then a
pause of one hour or rather more, during which some sat down in
the stalls of the church, some went out and stood about the doors
and walls of the church, or dispersed to the neighbouring hermitages,
where they might lie down and rest for half an hour or three-quarters.
But at six o'clock a.m. we were all again in the church, and, the
Third and Sixth Hours having been read, at half-past six the Bishop
came down from his stall and was robed for the Liturgy in the
middle of the church. In this Liturgy a monk-deacon was ordained
priest, which scarcely made any difference in the length of the
service. At ten minutes to nine the Liturgy was finished, the
Bishop had blessed two large dishes of Collyba (memorial cakes),
and was distributing the Antidoron (i.e. the blessed bread, which is
given to those who are present at Liturgy without communicating)
from his stall, while they read the two psalms preparatory for the
refectory ; and thereupon followed the final dismissal, and they left
the church. After a very short interval they all met again in the
church, and went thence, preceded by lights, to the refectory, where
about 300 dined together, of whom nearly two-thirds were strangers
from other parts of the Holy Mountain. The Bishop and five or
six others dined apart, but at the same time, at the house of the
controller (SiKaios) of the scete, who was also the chief priest of
its church. The table in the refectory was blessed before, and
thanksgiving made after the meal, as usual. A reading was going on
about half the time we were there, and during the rest there was no
noise nor conversation, except it may be a word or two here and
there in an under tone. When we first sat down portions were set
at each place of soup, fish, bread, and wine. There was a second
entry, consisting of portions of rice made savoury ; and a little later
some better wine (though there was no great difference) was carried
round to be drunk without water ; and the contents of the dishes of
Collyba, which we had seen blessed in the church after the Liturgy,
were distributed. Before the last grace the father who seemed to
364 MOUNT ATHOS
have the superintendence of the refectory made an appropriate
oration or address to the company at some length : he thanked God
for having granted them so to meet this year again, and to keep
with due honour their festival ; expressed pleasure at the sight of so
many strangers, and hoped they might see the same festival return,
and take part in its celebration on many more anniversaries ; and
with all this he mixed proper religious allusions to its associations.
Lastly, there was the elevation of the bread in honour of the
Blessed Virgin, and each received a morsel of it, holding it over the
incense before he ate it. Then we all left the refectory, preceded as
before by the lights, and at the foot of the stairs, as we turned to go
into the church, we passed by four brethren, the three cooks and the
reader, lying prostrate on the ground. In this posture they remained
till all had gone by, in compUance with a monastic custom, which
enjoins them on such occasions to ask forgiveness in this fashion for
any fault or deficiencies in the manner in which they have performed
their respective duties towards the company. In the church we were
not detained more than a minute or two, and then separated, each
going in what direction he pleased. Most, however, of those present
by this time stood in need of some repose, and sought a place to lie
down in some one or other of the neighbouring hermitages. Plenty
of these were scattered all about among the rocks and trees, while
underneath the mountain bore down almost perpendicularly into the
sea, which was, however, at a considerable distance, as S. Anne
stands on a far higher level than most of the seaside monasteries.
When we finally left the church it wanted about a quarter to eleven
A.M. Thus the whole series of services and readings, with one inter-
val only of an hour, and one or two other inconsiderable pauses,
lasted twenty-one hours and a half. And the Vigil service alone
(consisting of Great Vespers with its adjuncts. Matins, and First
Hour) took up twelve hours and forty minutes. Such festivals
(TravT/yupcis) are of course comparatively rare, though every monastery
or scete would have one such in the course of the year, and some
two or three. But on all the festivals of the first rank on which
they make a solemn Vigil (iypvTrvLa) the same order is followed ;
and the Vigil service lasts, not indeed, as in this case, twelve or
thirteen hours, but yet not less than eight or nine, being nearly half
as long again as on an ordinary Sunday. Of such festivals there may
be on an average in each monastery about two in every month, or
twenty-four in the course of the year. On the whole the length of
RIDE TO ST. DEMETRIUS 365
the services on festivals is increased chiefly, though not exclusively,
by a difference in the style of singing and by the appointment of a
greater quantity of matter to be sung. In Lent, on the contrary, the
services are lengthened beyond the practice of other seasons, and in
winter, ordinarily, beyond the use of summer, not so much by
additional singing as by very large additions to the quantity of
prayers and psalms and readings, the Psalter being appointed to be
said twice through weekly instead of once, the Great Compline being
added to the other daily services, and the ordinary monastic readings
being at once more than doubled in number and considerably
increased in length.
The liturgy being- ended, the Archbishop crossed
the courtyard, preceded by torch-bearers and wearing
a magnificent cope, the train of which was borne by
Pantele, to the refectory, where, seated at the high
table and surrounded by the presidents of the monas-
tery, he dined in state with all the monks and those
of the pilgrims that were fortunate enough to find
places. We were advised not to dine with them, as
the food would be all cooked with oil, and the monks
had therefore provided an excellent cock for our con-
sumption. So after we had taken one turn up and
down the refectory to see the commencement of the
feast we retired to our rooms and fell upon the bird
and part of a large collyva, covered all over with sweet-
meats, which had been solemnly blessed in the church
in commemoration of the departed.
In the afternoon we arranged to visit the neighbour-
ing skete of St. Demetrius. The Archbishop was too
tired to join us ; so at three o'clock we mounted our mules
and started alone, with a soldier going in front to show
the way. The path to the skete leads through a narrow
glen, where flourishes every kind of tree and shrub.
The afternoon was deliciously cool. We enjoyed
366 MOUNT ATHOS
our ride exceedingly, and thought that the road was,
on the whole, the prettiest on the Holy Mountain.
Emerging from under the leafy shade of the glen, the
skete comes into view on the side of the hill, above the
vineyards. Like St. Anne's it consists of a few central
buildings and numerous little calyvia, dotted about in
all directions on the surrounding slopes.
The monks of St. Demetrius, a poor uneducated
set, received us most cordially and entertained us with
glyko and coffee The kyriacon -^ dedicated to St.
Demetrius, possesses nothing of interest ; its frescoes
were repainted eighty years ago. There is a narthex,
a pronaos, and a small paracclesi, dedicated to St. Ni-
cholas. There is also another church, dedicated to the
Assumption of Our Lady. Fifty monks belong to the
skete, and they live in twenty-five calyvia, fourteen of
which have chapels attached to them ; these monks
meet at the skete on Saturdays for the Sunday services,
as at St. Anne's. The dicaios is elected annually ;
his business is to look after the church and central
buildings. The skete is under the government of
Vatopedi.
I could find out nothing certain respecting the foun-
dation of the monastery. 1 1 is said to have been founded
by some descendant of St. Demetrius of Salonica. As
we left the skete the monks presented us with bunches
of grapes of a very large and delicious kind. We rode
back to Vatopedi, which we reached shortly after sunset,
just as they were closing the gates. Another cock was
cooked for our supper this evening.
' Measurements: Sanctuary: from north to south, including chapels,
28 feet ; across chord of east apse, 1 1 feet ; from iconostasis to end of
east apse, 14^ feet. Nave : across transepts, 39^ feet ; from iconostasis
to west wall, 26 feet, or to west wall of narthex, 49 feet.
ANGEl.OS MEETS WITH AN ACCIDENT 367
Thursday, September ^. Rather late in the day
we started with the Archbishop for ChiHandari ; but
shortly after leaving Vatopedi we resolved to stop on
our way at Esphigmenou, fearing lest we should be
benighted if we ventured upon the longer ride. The
road lies along the shore of the bay, and then turning
a little inland mounts to higher ground. Angeloswas
riding a little ahead of us on a large white mule. As
we turned a sharp corner we saw the laughable spectacle
of our dragoman seated on the ground and the mule
quietly trotting off. Now Angelos was particularly
proud of his riding, and used to exhibit various methods
of sitting on the mule ; in this case he had been riding
side-saddle, and the beast having given a slight jerk he
had slipped off Of course the Archbishop was not slow
to take advantage of the circumstance to pay off old
scores against him ; for there was not much love between
them, owing to the delight which Angelos used to take
in annoying the prelate by the utterance of pestilent
opinions.
* What ! ' said the Archbishop, looking round, ' you
fallen off, Angelos ! How could that have hap-
pened ? '
Our unfortunate dragoman muttered something
about his saddle having slipped.
* Indeed ! ' said his tormentor ; and then calling to
O — , who was behind, he asked if he found that his
saddle slipped.
'No,' replied O — .
* Nor do I,' said the Archbishop, and he roared
with laughter at the jest.
Presently he turned to me.
' Does your saddle slip, Riley ? '
368 MOUNT ATIIOS
' No,' said I.
' Dear me,' said the Archbishop, ' how very un-
fortunate it is that only Angelos's saddle should give
way, and he so heavy too. I am afraid he must have
hurt himself, sitting on the stony road.'
Angelos looked as sour as vinegar as renewed
peals of laughter proceeded from the Archbishop ; in
fact our dragoman's discomfiture caused such exquisite
pleasure to our merry prelate that he chuckled the
whole way to Esphigmenou, ever and again looking
back over his shoulder at Angelos and then indulging
in fresh merriment.
The vegetation on the road partook, as a rule, of
the stunted character of that on the west side of Athos.
We reached Esphigmenou a little before dusk, having
sent on Pantele to announce our arrival. This monas-
tery occupies a retired position on the sea, the waves
of which absolutely wash its walls, and at the time of
Mr. Tozer's first visit (in 1853) had thrown down part
of them. It is closely shut in by the surrounding sides
of a little valle)^ ; hence, according to some authorities,
its name, from cr^tyyw, to squeeze, because it is com-
pressed between the hills and the sea. But others
derive its appellation from a certain abbot called
Theoctistos, who lived in the ninth century. From
motives of asceticism he is said to have perpetually
worn a cord very tightly bound round his waist ; thus
the house came to be called the Monastery of the
Squeezed One.
Esphigmenou during the last two centuries has
been steadily increasing in size and importance.
Georgirenes says, 'It is the poorest of all the
monastery {sic), not for want of Lands, but of Men to
ESPHIGMENOU 369
cultivate them. For the soil about, is the best in all
the Mount. It bears Olives of a singular largeness,
and wants no other sort of Fruit Trees. But the number
of Monks in it amount but to eighty, who being not
able to make the best advantage of so much good
ground continue poor in a plentiful Soil/
Curzon found but thirty monks in the place, who,
he says, were * cleaner and kept their church in better
order and neater than most of their brethren on Mount
Athos.'
In 1760, between the times of Georgirenes and
Curzon, it was in ruins, having been gradually restored
from that date ; and some time back the present
abbot, the archimandrite Luke, went to Russia for the
purpose of raising funds for the restoration ; returning
with 8,000/., with which he completed the new buildings.
There are now 120 monks, of whom ten are priests
and three deacons ; they observe the coenobite rule.
The brethren claim Pulcheria and her brother
Theodosius the Less ^s the founders of Esphigmenou
in the fifth century. Gass believes it to have been
founded in the eleventh, but probably it was only
restored in the beginning of that century, having been
destroyed by a landslip or falling rocks some time pre-
viously. It also suffered at the hands of the crusaders
or other Latins. The first notice I can find of Esphig-
menou is in the year 1095.^
We had a poor supper, and although we prepared
some of our concentrated soup the cook managed to
spoil it by flavouring it with butter. After the soup
boiled eggs were served for our benefit. O — being
very particular about their being well cooked, com-
' Muralt
B U
370 MOUNT ATHOS
plained they had not been long enough in the pot.
Whereupon the serving monk insisted that that could
not be ; ' for,' said he. ' I said a Pater and a Pistevo
whilst they were boiling.' It seems that on the Holy
Mountain they boil eggs in this manner : They put
them on the fire and then commence the recitation of
the Lord's Prayer ; this being finished they commence
the Nicene Creed, at the end of which the eggs are
taken out of the pot and are supposed to be properly
cooked.
This is a curious but very characteristic instance of
the way in which religion engrosses the minds of the
inhabitants of Athos. With them religion is distributed ;
it is not reserved for special days or certain places, but
mixes, sometimes in odd and quaint manners, in the
ordinary actions of their lives. Do you speak to a
monk ? He will answer in the language of the
Scriptures, Do you write him a letter ? He will
reply in the style of St. Peter or St. Paul. You
demand a cup of cold water. He will bring it you
fresh from a holy fountain brimming over with legends
of the Blessed Angels or the Saints. Compared with
the religion of the West this is not so much a question
of degree of piety as of kind.
After supper we had some conversation with Luke
the abbot, who we found was a painter, like his great
namesake, and then putting up our levinges slept
securely on the divan of a room overhanging the sea,
the noise of the waves lulling us to sleep as they broke
upon the shore underneath the windows.
;/!
CHAPTER XXIII.
We rose betimes, for a long day was before us, and
after some tea of our own brewing paid a visit to the
catholicon. This was buih in i8io^ on the site of the
old one, which was in ruins ; from the number and size
of the windows it is a very light church. The frescoes
were painted in 1841. As in most churches of late
date the narthex shows signs of disappearing, the old
reasons for its retention having become partly obsolete ;
in this instance a curtain instead of a solid wall divides
it from the nave. There is, however, a regular exo-
narthex and a pronaos. In the centre of the east apse
is the sy7ithronos, or throne of the bishop of the diocese.
There are two paractlesia on each side of the narthex,
that on the north being dedicated to the Archangels,
that on the south to the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin.
Of the relics first comes a piece of the Holy Rood
(said to have been presented by Pulcheria), in a cross
of gold round which run rows of pearls on both sides.
Four diamonds are set on the extremities of the arms
on one side. Three large emeralds are set transparently
at the two ends of the cross piece and at the top ; the
' Measurements : Sanctuary : from north to south, including chapels,
30 feet ; across chord of east apse, 12 feet ; from iconostasis to end of
east apse, 13.^ feet. Nave : across from north to south, 30 feet ; across
transepts, 45 feet ; from iconostasis to pseudo-narthex, 34 feet — to west
end of narthex, 54 feet.
B B 2
l']2 MOUNT ATHOS
latter jewel has, however, come away from the reli-
quary, but is preserved. Between the arms are four
red jewels, perhaps rubies. The other relics are the
head of St. James the Less, foot of St. Mary Magdalen,
part of the hand of St. Chrysostom, and the head of
St. Agathangelos, who won the crown of martyrdom
in Smyrna about the commencement of the present
century. Agathangelos had apostatized in his child-
hood, but at the age of nineteen, overcome by remorse,
he fled to Mount Athos and embraced the monastic life
in Esphigmenou. Here he devoted himself to penance
for his fall and adopted the Great or Angelic Habit.
But all his mortifications were powerless to assuage his
deep remorse, and finally, being warned of God in a
dream that he should seal his contrition with his blood,
he resolved to return to Smyrna, where he had formerly
denied his Master, and then openly publish his return to
Christianity. He went, accompanied by a priest, whom
his convent sent to comfort him in his last hour with
the Holy Sacraments, for all knew that he was going
to certain death. Standing before the governor of
Smyrna, he announced his rejection of the Mohammedan
religion and declared that he would die in the faith
of the Crucified One. For days the furious infidels
employed every means to turn him from his purpose,
but in vain ; and finally he suffered death by decapi-
tation.
Poenas cucurrit fortiter
Et sustulit viriliter ;
Pro Te effundens sanguinem
Sterna dona possidet
Esphigmenou claims another martyr saint as one
of her children, St. Timothy, who had also denied
ESPHIGMENOU LIBRARY 373
Christ, but having returned to the faith was living at the
Lavra when the event described above took place.
Fired by the bright example of Agathangelos, he went
to the abbot of Esphigmenou, and announced his inten-
tion of going to Adrianople, the scene of his apostasy,
that there he might die for Christ ; with him too a priest
was sent. After divers tortures he also was beheaded.
The refectory is at the west end of the catho-
licon ; it is an old building frescoed inside, but chiefly
remarkable for its ancient and beautiful inlaid doors.
The buildings on this west side of the monastery are
old ; the rest date from the recent restorations. Pass-
ing up a narrow staircase in the thickness of the
wall of the catholicon, we gained the library, which
is situated over its west end and commands an in-
terior view of the church. Here are 325 separate
volumes of manuscripts, some containing two or three
bound together ; seventy-two of them are on vellum.
There is an interesting martyrology of the eleventh
century, containing numerous illuminations on blue and
purple vellum. The uncial Slavonic manuscript of the
Gospels mentioned by Curzon has apparently disap-
peared ; although we hunted for it all over the shelves
we could not find it In this library is kept a very
magnificent piece of em.broidery, which the monks
assert to have formed part of the tent that Napoleon I.
used during the Russian campaign. An enterprising
member of the community seems to have purchased
it in Vienna in the year 181 2, though for what purpose
he bought it I cannot conceive ; it is certainly a very
odd thing to find buried in an Athos monastery. It
measures 10 feet by 9 feet 4 inches, and consists of
cloth of gold covered all over with delicate needle-
374 MOUNT ATHOS
work ; in the centre are three medallions, representing
Minerva, Hercules, and Diana ; it is lined with crimson
velvet and purple silk, and the whole is in perfect pre-
servation.
Seeing that we were pleased with this embroidery,
the abbot went to one of the bookcases and pulled it
forward. To our surprise the shelves moved on hinges
and disclosed the entrance to a little room beyond.
This chamber was perfectly full of church plate and
gorgeous vestments. Two large vessels to contain the
agiasma stood on the floor, one being about 4 feet high,
both of massive silver but of modern workmanship
(probably Russian) and in bad taste. There were in-
numerable sets of altar vessels and censers, more than
we could possibly examine in the time at our disposal,
some of very handsome design ; also two bishops'
crowns, one of solid gold plate and one of crimson
velvet, both covered with precious stones and enamels ;
on the top of the gold one was a beautiful medallion of
the Holy Trinity, enamelled on mother-of-pearl. There
was also a cross, the exact copy of the old one in the
church, made forty years ago. Besides these treasures
there were some rich modern vestments, heavy with
gold and pearls, and all of good workmanship, which
we were told our old friend Nilos had had made for
himself in expectation of being created Patriarch of
Alexandria. How his monastery had managed to
retain possession of them I know not, nor the real
story of Nilos's dispute with the monks, but he was
clearly in very bad odour with his former brethren. His
name appeared on several of these vestments. Alto-
gether we were much astonished at the display of
wealth on the part of this lately ruined convent. The
ESPHIGMENOU — CHURCHES 375
Archbishop told us afterwards that most of the
monasteries had secret hoards of this kind, and that
the treasuries of some of the larger monasteries far out-
did the present one.
Esphigmenou possesses farms in Cassandra,
Thasos, and near the Dardanelles. The following
is a list of its churches :
Esocclesta.
1. The catholicon, dedicated to the Ascension (this was the
ancient name of the monastery before it obtained that of Esphig-
menou), containing the paracclesia of the Assumption and of the
Archangels.
2. St. Constantine and St. Helen.
3. St. Gregory Palamas.'
4. St. Gennadius, Patriarch of Constantinople.
5. St. Nilos the Wise.2
6. St. Anthimus of Nicomedia.^
Exocdesia.
1. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
2. All Saints.
3. The Holy Theodores, the General and the Tyro.*
4. St. Modestus.
5. The Holy Unmercenaries.
6. St. Anthony of Esphigmenou.
The monastery has depending on it one kelli, three
calyvia, and one cathisma.
The Archbishop decided against going to Chilian-
> The champion of the Uncreated Light (see p. 194) and a former
monk of Esphigmenou, afterwards Archbishop of Thessalonica.
^ A magistrate of Constantinople and a disciple of St. Chrysostom ;
afterwards he became a hermit at Mount Sinai. He died in 451. His
festival is kept on November 1 2.
3 Bishop of Nicomedia; suffered martyrdom under Maximian.
* St. Theodore Stratelates suffered in the year 230. His festival is
February 8. St. Theodore Tyron was martyred in 297. His feast day
is on February 1 7. Both are soldier saints.
l'](i MOUNT ATHOS
dari to-day ; as we had arranged to catch a steamer
for Salonica that was to touch at Daphne the next
evening we were forced to go alone.
Our road lay through pretty country, which was
partly covered with trees and wild shrubs, and partly
consisted of cultivated fields and meadows. Here too
we passed through the stubble of corn, and cornfields
in Athos are rare, nearly all the grain being brought
from distant farms on the mainland or on the islands.
A ruin stands near the shore at the entrance of the
glen at the far end of which Chiliandari is situated,
away from the sea. This we afterwards learnt was
the last remnant of the Monastery of St. Basil, which,
as the monks of Chiliandari told us, had become a ruin
before their monastery was built and was handed over
to them.^ They still use the catholicon of St. Basil
as a church ; the other buildings are almost entirely in
ruins. We were sorry that we had no time to visit
the remains of this ancient convent.
There is also belonging to Chiliandari another
ruined monastery called Scorpion, situated about three
hours' distance to the west, near the Canal of Xerxes
and halfway between the two gulfs, in the centre of the
promontory. Scorpion was absorbed into Chiliandari
in 1330. Hardly anything is left of this house, so the
monks said.
On our nearing Chiliandari the bells began to peal
forth, and the chief monks met us outside the gateway
and politely assisted us to alight ; in fact, they treated
us with much honour and ceremony, and fully merit the
praise which Comnenus bestows upon them : Xep^oi
' St. Basil was bought by Chiliandari in 1326. It is said to have
been founded in the ninth century.
FOUNDATION OF CHILIANDARI T^']']
KoX BovXyapoL av9 pwiroi dyaOol /cai ^tXd^evot.
We were taken upstairs and treated to coffee and
sweetmeats, during the consumption of which our friend
with the hair, whom we had met in attendance on the
metropolitan Michael, came in and greeted us warmly.
We discussed topics connected with the monastery
whilst breakfast was being prepared in an adjoining
room.
Chiliandari, believed by Leake to occupy the site
of the ancient town of Holophyxus, is of very early
foundation, but all accounts of the original monastery
have perished. In the first few years of the thirteenth
century it was restored by St. Simeon and St. Sabbas
under the following circumstances : ^ Stephen Ne-
manja (for he took the name of Simeon in religion)
was the ruler of Servia in the reign of Alexius I. (1081-
1 1 1 8), and Sabbas was his second son. Sabbas, fired
by religious zeal, left Servia secretly and came to Athos,
intending to devote himself to the monastic life. Two
years afterwards his father, hearing of his whereabouts,
went to Athos to fetch him back to Servia, but Sabbas
succeeded in persuading his father not only to leave
him to follow religion in peace, but also to join him in
the assumption of the monastic habit. So, leaving the
kingdom of Servia to another son, Stephen took the
vows with Sabbas at Vatopedi under the name of
Simeon. Here they remained for a few years and
then moved with some other Servian monks to the
ruins of Chiliandari, which they restored (1198?).
Simeon the king died a monk within its walls, but
Sabbas returned to Servia and became archbishop
there. In 1308 the Catalans invaded Chalcidice, and it
' Mouraviefif ; gathered from ancient charters.
378 MOUNT ATIIOS
was mainly due to the monks of Chiliandari, under
their brave abbot Daniel, that the inhabitants of Mount
Athos were able to offer such strenuous resistance to the
invaders. Milotine, another Servian prince, built the
catholicon. The monastery suffered heavily during the
Greek war of independence ; at that time the Turks
destroyed some of the buildings, carried off much of
the plate, and reduced the monks to great poverty.
The name of the monastery presents difficulties :
it has been variously derived from XlXlol dvSpe^, *a
thousand men,' either because at one time it contained
that number of monks or because it was once mira-
culously preserved from the attack of a thousand
pirates ; XiXia avrpa, ' a thousand caves,' from the
numerous caverns in its neighbourhood ; XtXtot XeWre?,
* a thousand lions ; ' and lastly from a Bulgarian word
meaning ' a hive of bees.' ^ Probably the first-named
derivation is the right one.
There are at Chiliandari about seventy monks, of
whom ten are Greeks, a few Roumanians, and the rest
Bulgarians and Servians ; there are also thirty lay
brethren, or servants. They follow the idiorrhythmic
rule, although they have several times endeavoured to
change it to the coenobite, but have failed owing to
their poverty. We were much surprised at hearing
that the idiorrhythmic system was the more economical
of the two. The monks explained that in this case each
inmate cultivated his own little garden, and we were
led to infer that when they worked for themselves
' Mr. W. R. Morfill, M.A., of Oriel College, Oxford, who has kindly
endeavoured to verify for me several Slavonic references, informs me
that he cannot discover such a word bearing any resemblance to Chi-
liandari.
CHILIANDARI — CHURCHES
379
individually they accomplished more than when they
laboured for the common weal. They have two small
farms in Cassandra and one large one at Cala- Maria,
two kellia (the Holy Trinity and the Prodromos),
besides twenty-three kellia which they own at Caryes.
MONASTERY OF CHILIANDARI.
Esocdesia.
1. The catholicon, dedicated to the Presentation in the Temple
of the Mother of God.
2. St. Sabbas.
St. Demetrius.
The Holy Apostles.
The Nativity of the Mother of God.
The Protection of the Blessed Virgin.
St. George.
St. John of Ryllo.
The Archangels.
St. Tryphon.
St. Charalampes.
St. Stephen.
St. Basil.
Exoalesia.
380 MOUNT ATHOS
The names of the epitropoi were Stephen and
Nicephorus. After breakfast the monks took us to the
catholicon.^ It has two nartheces of equal size, with an
ascent of four steps from the outer to the inner one.
The frescoes are all of modern date. The part of
this church most worthy of notice is the pavement,
which is of mosaic and fine marbles. The throne
in the quire is 250 years old, by the date on it ; let
into the front of its canopy are two ancient plaques,
which were probably book covers in former days.
In each plaque are twelve illuminations on vellum, re-
presenting scenes from the life of Our Lord, the subjects
being delineated on a ground of gold and pearls, just as
in the illuminated cross and book covers at St. Paul's.
The pictures are covered with glass and set in silver-
gilt filigree enriched with jewels. At the side of the
throne is placed a staff, said to have belonged to the
Emperor Andronicus Comnenus. It is of black ebony
with a head formed of a piece of jasper, mounted in
silver gilt and set with precious stones ; it measures
4 feet 8 J inches in length. This staff is used by any
bishop who comes to the church.
On the eastern side of the south-west dome pillar
is placed a miraculous icon called the JJavayia Tpi-
X^povaa, or the Three-handed Panaghia. The monks
asked us if we observed anything curious about the
icon, and after a few moments we noticed that the Holy
Virgin (for it is a representation of the Mother and
Child) had a third hand, of silver, afifixed to the picture.
^ Size of sanctuary : from north to south, including chapels, 34^ feet ;
across chord of east apse, 13 feet ; from iconostasis to end of east apse,
18 feet. Nave : across transepts, 51 feet ; from iconostasis to west wall
of nave, 37 feet ; to west wall of narthex, 64 feet. There are doors at the
extremities of the transepts, which is a very unusual feature.
CHILIANDARI — RELICS AND LIBRARY 38 1
This is said to be the very icon before which St. John
Damascene prayed after his hand had been cut off by
the iconoclasts. On his rubbing the stump against
the lips of St. Mary the hand was restored to him.^
Amongst the rehcs are a large piece of the Holy
Rood,^ set in a filigree reliquary, a curious cross of
crystal said to contain three of Our Lord's Hairs, a leg
of St. Simon Stylites, and a hand of St. Nicephorus.
The monks denied all knowledge of the bloodstone
chalice mentioned by Curzon.
The library contains, I should think, about 150
manuscripts, of which nearly fifty are on vellum. Many
are in the Slavonic languages ; I saw one of these, which
was a copy of the Gospels with illuminations. Of
those in Greek the earliest is a commentary of St.
Chrysostom, in quarto, of the eleventh century ; there
is also a manuscript on paper of the fifteenth century,
containing the liturgies of St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, and
the Presanctified, with a few other ofiices ; of the re-
maining Greek manuscripts on paper over seventy are
ecclesiastical music books.
To our great disappointment we were unable to see
the beautiful manuscript of Andronicus Comnenus,
the monk who had the key of the press where it is
kept in the catholicon being away in the vineyards (for
the vintage had begun), too far off to be recalled before
our departure ; so my readers must be content with
' ' C'est une des plus vieilles et des plus remarquables peintures by-
zantines ou orientales. On I'apporta de Jerusalem en Servie, et de \h au
mont Athos, b. Chiliandari, qui est peuple de moines serbes. Cette Vierge
est d'un beau caract^re, mais un peu dure de figure, comma I'enfant
J^sus qu'elle tient dans ses bras. Du reste, c'est une des plus prdcieuses
et des plus honorees reliques de tout le mont Athos, ou il y a tant des
belles reliques.' — Didron, Manuel dVconograpkie Chrdtienne.
* Given to St. Sabbas by the Emperor John Vataces.
382 MOUNT ATHOS
Curzon's description of it and the knowledge that it is
still to be seen, when fortune or the monks favour, in
the Monastery of Chiliandari. He says :
This, to my admiration and surprise, was not only the finest
manuscript on Mount Athos, but the finest that I had met with in
any Greek monastery, with the single exception of the golden manu-
script of the New Testament at Mount Sinai. It was a quarto
evangelistarium, written in golden letters on fine ivhite vellum. The
characters were a kind of semi-uncial, rather round in their forms, of
large size, and beautifully executed, but often joined together and
having many contractions and abbreviations, in these respects re-
sembling the Mount Sinai MS. This magnificent volume was given
to the monastery by the Emperor Andronicus Comnenus about the
year 11 84 ; it is consequently not an early manuscript, but its imperial
origin renders it interesting to the admirers of literary treasures,
while the very rare occurrence of a Greek manuscript written in
letters of gold or silver would make it a most desirable and important
acquisition to any royal library.
In the library there are preserved several necklaces
formed of prodigiously heavy chains and crosses, the
property of former hermits and worn by them in peni-
tence. The courtyard of Chiliandari is picturesque,
the surrounding buildings being for the most part an-
cient, and growing in the midst of it are several fine
cypresses. Soon after three o'clock we bade adieu to
the good monks ; they seemed so pleased at our visit
that we felt quite sorry that we could not stay the
night with them, but it was absolutely necessary for us
to sleep at Vatopedi.
The epitropoi escorted us out of the monastery, and
the monks continued to ring the bells until we were
out of sight. We put our mules into a trot and
managed to get back to Esphigmenou in twenty
minutes, when we hurried up to the guest chamber.
Here we found the Archbishop in the midst of writing
FAREWELL TO THE ARCHBISHOP 383
two letters of recommendation for Salonica and Athens
that he had promised to give us, for although they
might have been written a week before he had put off
the labour until the very last moment.
When they were finished we descended to the gate.
Our mules were ready, and it only remained to say
ourlast farewells to the genial prelate, whose companion-
ship had so greatly heightened the enjoyment of our
journey on the Holy Mountain. On both sides, I
think, there was real regret that the parting hour had
come, and none of the three had the heart to make
long speeches ; so we thanked him for all his kindness,
and tried to cheer ourselves by talking of what we
would do in company another year. We both felt
that unpleasant choking sensation inseparable from
all sincere leave-takings as we kissed his hand for
the last time, and when the Archbishop kissed our
foreheads I noticed that tears were in his eyes.
In silence we walked away to the other end of the
bridge which spans the little dry torrent bed in front
of the monastery to where Peter and Pan tele were
standing at our mules' heads. The honest fellows
seemed as sorry as their master to part with us ; we
increased their appreciation of us by a suitable largess.
' Good-bye, Pantele. Good-bye, Peter. When
next we see you, Peter, you will be a holy deacon,
singing in the church.'
' Ah, no,' said Peter. * I am afraid the Archbishop
is only joking ; he does not really intend to make me
one.'
* Oh, yes ; he told us he would. Good-bye, Peter
the Deacon ! '
Away we went, down to the right, into the little
384 MOUNT ATHOS
river-bed, whilst the Archbishop stood on the bridge
gazing after us ; we could see him through the trees
waving his handkerchief, but a turn of the road soon
shut both him and Esphigmenou from our sight.
We made great haste, with the result that we
reached Vatopedi a quarter of an hour before Angelos
and the baggage. It was dusk when we entered the
gate, and the monastery was closed for the night
directly after our baggage arrived. We made a point
of supping with the epitropoi in the little room where
we had eaten our first meal on Athos, for this was the
last we were to have with our old hosts.
38 =
CHAPTER XXIV.
Saturday, September -^ We rose very early and
packed up our baggage for our final departure. Whilst
we were thus engaged the dicaios of St. Demetrius called
and stayed some time in conversation with us. Then
we went to wish good-bye to the epitropoi, who had on
every occasion been so kind to us, and took glyko and
coffee with them in the guest chamber. They and many
of the chief monks came to the gate with us, and at a
quarter to nine o'clock we started ' for England,' as we
pleasantly persuaded ourselves. On the way to the
Bay of Daphne we had to pass through Caryes and
traverse the same ground as when we first mounted
our mules at Athos. We reached the Serai at half-past
eleven, and asked the monks to prepare some breakfast
for us whilst we went into the town. There we parted
in different directions, O — going to the post office to
get our letters, whilst I collected the engravings I had
ordered in the bazaar when we were last in the capital.
O — soon joined me and brought the unwelcome news
that the officials at the post positively affirmed that
no boat would leave Daphne that day for Salonica.
However we determined to push on that evening to
Xeropotamou, on the chance of the steamer calling at
the port, for in the East it is impossible to arrive at the
truth unless one sees and hears for oneself. O — also
c c
386 MOUNT ATITOS
told me that the post-office clerk declared that he
should not have known him ; he had grown so thin.
And no wonder after a six weeks' experience of the
Athos rdgime ! And yet people do say that snails are
fattening.
After breakfast at the Serai we left Caryes and
rode over the ridge to Xeropotamou, which we reached
at five o'clock. Here our worst fears were confirmed.
The old Russian merchant, whom we had met at
Russico, having completed the devotions of his
pilgrimage, was returning to his native land, and had
bribed the steamer which was passing from Salonica
to Constantinople to call, so that the steamer belonging
to the same company, which was to have touched at
Daphne on its way from Constantinople to Salonica,
would not now diverge from its course. We determined
to stay at Xeropotamou for the night, especially as
we heard that two Greek travellers, M. Damalas and a
brother professor from the University of Athens, were
here, waiting, like ourselves, for an opportunity of
leaving Athos. We soon fraternized with our com-
panions in adversity, and began to discuss our prospects
of escape from the Holy Mountain. Three courses
alone were open to us : the first, to wait a fortnight for
the next steamer. This we were very loth to do. The
second, to go with the old Russian as far as the
Dardanelles, land there, and wait for a western-bound
vessel to take us back to Salonica. The third, to go
overland to that town. This last plan was stoutly
opposed by the monks, who said that if we attempted
it we should certainly be captured by the brigands,
folk (from their description) 'righte felonouse and
foule and of cursed kynde.' The professors were not
ARRANGEMENTS FOR OUR DEPARTURE 387
particularly anxious to try the experiment, but we all
finally determined to sleep the night over it.
The next morning we held a fresh council and
decided to abandon the overland route ; for our acting
consul at Cavalla had told us that the country was
not safe, and had refused to allow us to go to Athos
by road. Only a week ago intelligence had come to
Athos that one of the principal pashas of Salonica had
been carried off to the mountains, after several of his
escort of thirty soldiers had been killed, and that an
enormous ransom was demanded for his release. I
remembered also an ominous reply that I had received
from the consul-general at Salonica in answer to a
letter addressed to him on the subject before leaving
England, that all English travellers were warned that
they must take their own risk. So it was arranged
that we should go to Russico and see what could be
done, whether there was any chance of another steamer
calling before very long or whether we could get the
use of the launch. The professors would not go
with us, being in high dudgeon at the unceremonious
way in which they had been treated at Russico. As
M. Damalas was a notorious anti-Russian and a frequent
correspondent of certain Athenian journals of Russo-
phobist complexion, this, perhaps, was not to be won-
dered at. We walked to Russico that Sunday afternoon
and reached the monastery in time for vespers.
The monks prepared a good meal for us and were
most anxious that we should stay the night, but, as
we had no baggage with us, we declined, although
we agreed to sup with them. Nothing could be done
about the launch ; it was wanted for other purposes ;
and besides the monks did not care to send it such a
c c 2
38S MOUXT ATHOS
distance at this time of the year, when the gales were
expected. After supper at seven o'clock we left
Russico, promising to return the next day, and rode
back by the bright moonlight to Xeropotamou. Of
course the monastery was closed for the night, but by
dint of shouting we attracted the attention of our
friends in the room above, and were soon let in at the
gate. We had a long and interesting conversation
with M. Damalas, who spoke English perfectly. He
seemed to think that the future of Mount Athos de-
pended entirely upon what government succeeded that
of the Ottoman Empire. Russia he considered the
most probable, and of this Power he was the most
afraid, because he believed the Russians would carry
off everything of interest on the Holy Mountain and
gradually destroy the whole community. He hoped
that, on the contrary, some other Christian Power
would establish its rule over Athos, under the pro-
tection of which a college for the Orthodox clergy
might be established, and a school for music and
painting. He discussed the Athos relics in a sensible
and temperate manner, being anxious to preserve the
genuine in honour and esteem whilst rejecting those
which were clearly false. This, he said, had been
done to a great extent in free Greece, but at Athos
the monks believed so implicitly in all their relics that
this reformation would be a work of difficulty.
We had intended to start early the next morning
for Russico, but one thing and another prevented
our doing so. The first delay was caused by the
monks, who told us that, as they had already put
to death a fine cock for our especial delectation at
breakfast, they must insist upon our partaking of that
DECISION TO GO OVERLAND 389
meal. After breakfast the whole monastery went to
sleep, and when the siesta was over the monks dis-
covered that there were no mules to be had, none
having as yet returned from the vineyards. This
occasioned another delay of over an hour, and it was
three o'clock before we finally left the monastery.
On our arrival at Russico we dined by ourselves,
it being a fast day for the monks, but not for us, and
afterwards developed our last negatives.
Tuesday, September 'J. Throughout the whole of last
night a fierce gusty wind howled round the monastery.
The steamer was to call at Daphne this evening to
take the Russian pilgrim to Constantinople, and we
had half made up our minds to make the be:^t of a bad
business and go in it to the Dardanelles. Professor
Damalas and his friend had indeed decided to do
this ; but last night's storm turned the scale. The
autumnal gales were clearly at hand, if not already
upon us, and I for my* part had no desire to be tossed
up and down for a couple of nights in a horrid little
Turkish steamer with no berths or decent food,
although perhaps I should not have needed much of
that! O — , who always professes to like waves (though
I have seen him look rather pale on ship-board), de-
clared himself to be moved by the opinion of the
monks, that, owing to the bad weather, the steamer
would probably pass Athos this evening without
stopping. So, throwing all fears of brigands to the
winds, we resolved to imitate the example of the Great
King, who having been once caught in the stormy
Athos seas, took care the next time he passed that
way to go overland. Prudence, however, counselled
us to keep our change of plan to ourselves, for in a
390 MOUNT ATITOS
populous monastery like Russico, with hundreds of
servants, artisans, and fishermen, it would be wonder-
ful if there were not a knave or two, and knaves have
friends. When Europeans have been attacked by
robbers or carried off by brigands in the East, the
disasters have nearly always occurred through gossip-
ing servants.
If times and routes are kept private, and plans con-
tinually altered at the last moment, my experience
is that you may travel through the most disturbed
districts in fair security. In this case there was pro-
bably but little risk, for we afterwards found that the
brigands were many miles off our route, but we took
care to be on the safe side.
We had discovered from conversation with the
guest-master, Heliodorus, that by taking a sailing-boat
to the end of the gulf of the Holy Mountain we should
gain a whole day by saving the land journey down the
length of the promontory. We arranged therefore to
walk to Daphne and try to find a caique that would
take us. Just as we were starting Angelos brought
word that there was a little boat lying off the beach
below Russico ; so leaving O — to pack up I went
down to the shore with our dragoman. Here I found
a nice two-masted little craft of about two tons.
A bargain was soon struck with the owner, and I
went back to finish the packing. In ten minutes all
the luggage was on board ; a keg of water and two
loaves were hurriedly thrown into the boat, and we
were preparing to follow, when two Turkish custom-
house officers appeared and demanded that all our
baggage should be landed to be examined. Of course
they had waited until everything was carefully stowed
WE LEAVE ATHOS 39 1
away in the boat with a view of extorting backsheesh.
Appreciating this move, we were determined not to
yield one way or the other, and so at once flatly
refused, telling them that the thing was not to be
thought of for an instant. We have our luggage
examined ? Did they know to whom they were
talking ? Perhaps they were unaware of the friendship
that existed between us and the caimacan, their master ?
A pretty fuss he would make when he heard how his
friends had been treated !
The officers wavered for an instant at our lofty talk,
and a happy inspiration caused me to follow up the
attack with success. I pulled out my passport, and
handing it to Angelos bade him point out the royal
arms at the top and the Turkish visd\ then turning
round as if the matter were quite settled, we both
stepped into the boat. Whereupon Angelos improved
the occasion by explaining in a few words the
tremendous import of the document — that it was
about ten times more valuable and conferred far
greater powers upon its fortunate possessors than a
firman itself, and that there was a special clause re-
lating to the free passage of all baggage through the
custom-houses. The Turks took the paper into their
hands (they had evidently never seen a British passport
before), looked at it with as much rever-ence as if it
had borne the signature of the Prophet, returned it to
our dragoman with a salaam, and wished us a prosper-
ous voyage. We set sail at half-past four.
A fresh breeze carried us into the middle of the
gulf; it dropped almost at the moment when we
turned and shaped our course so as to run down
between the promontories. The whole of the western
392 MOUNT ATIIOS
side of Atlios was exposed to our view ; we could
see all the monasteries we knew so well, Xenophou,
Docheiariou, and behind us Xeropotamou high above
the sea, and, beyond, the little bays and creeks shelter-
ing the convents that nestle under the shadow of the
mountain, whose great peak towers up in barren
grandeur above the trees clothing its base. Soon the
sun went down behind Longos, and the shadows fell
upon the convents on the shore, gradually creeping up
the side of the ridge until all was enveloped except the
peak itself. On we go past Docheiariou, the fitful
wind now bellying the sails and carrying us on a few
yards, now dropping until they idly flap against the
masts. The promontory soon appears but a great
black mass dividing sky from sea, relieved only by the
lights of woodmen's fires. We float dreamily along,
listening to the ripple of the waters on our keeland the
distant bells of Russico, for the hour of compline is at
hand. The stars shine brightly over our heads, and
the soft breeze blowing from the eastern shore wafts
the delicious scent of pine trees across the waters of
the gulf. Angelos is asleep at our feet, so is one of the
sailor monks ; the other, being the skipper, sits silently
at the helm, his arm pressed idly against the tiller, for
indeed there is but little work for him to do. The
spell of Athos seems still to be over us ; we are not yet
escaped from the enchantments of peace.
But in a few hours we shall be in a crowded
Eastern city, in a few days once more in the crater of
that restless, heaving volcano called modern Europe.
Farewell, quiet woods and silent rocks; farewell, old
courts and simple monks. Life is short ; perhaps we
may never see you more.
CANAL OF XERXES 393
Our skipper v,as a monk of Xeropotamou ; he had
served on board an English ship some twenty-five
years ago and still spoke our language with ease. I
asked him the name of his little vessel.
' The " Evangelisteria," '^ said he,
* Ah.' said I, 'a good name.'
' Yes,' replied the monk, ' the best in all the
world.'
It was now getting late. We had had nothing to
eat since eleven a.m. and were therefore desperately
hungry ; so we cut off large hunches from our loaves,
washed them down with water from our keg, and laid
ourselves on the hard planks to snatch a little rest. A
few drops of rain fell, but the monks rigged up a
canopy over our heads out of a spare sail, and so we
kept quite dry. Just before closing my eyes I noticed
some islands (Mulari) on our right : these lie off the
narrowest part of the promontory, where Xerxes cut
his canal."'' The novelty of our situation did not
• The * Evangelized,' i.e. St. Mary, referring to the Annunciation.
^ We much regretted that we were unable to visit and investigate
this interesting spot. We first tried to go by sea from Russico and then
by land from Zographou, but having put off the journey until we began
to be pressed for time we found it would take too long, and, most reluct-
antly, we had to abandon our project. Mr. Tozer, who visited the site in
1853, has forever settled the question of the authenticity of the canal. He
says, ' The isthmus through which it was cut is just a mile and ahalf in width,
and the ground immediately about it is low, so that even in the middle,
where there are some slight undulations, it hardly rises more than fifty
feet above the sea. Thus the description of Herodotus is very accurate,
as he speaks of it as " a neck of land about twelve furlongs across, the
whole extent whereof, from the sea of the Acanthians to that over against
Torone, is a level plain, broken only by a few low hills." Through this isth-
mus the Canal of Xerxes was cut, and the deep dyke which still remains,
and forms the boundary of the Holy Mountain, is now called by the inha-
bitants Provlaka, which name is evidently the corruption of a word
{npoavKa^) signifying " the canal in front of the peninsula of Athos."
Thus the doubts of Juvenal and other writers, both ancient and modern,
394 MOUNT ATHOS
assist somnolence, and we neither of us slept much
until we reached the end of the gulf, and^ running into
a little creek, anchored there for the remainder of the
night.
At daybreak we weighed anchor and sailed east-
wards under a fresh breeze, and in an hour's time, just
as the sun rose, we beached the ' Evangelisteria ' in the
Bay of St. Nicholas. The land was quite bare, without
any sign of habitation, but in a few minutes we espied
a youth on the shore, and hailing him desired him to
go up to the village of St. Nicholas as fast as he could
and bring back mules for transport. We hauled all
our luggage on to the beach, and after bathing in the
sea sat down on our portmanteaux for breakfast. This
consisted of the remains of the loaves, a small tin of
tunny, and cold water instead of coffee.
By the time we had finished our meal and arranged
our baggage, the mules arrived ; we loaded them, and
as to the execution of Xerxes' project are proved tohave been groundless.
In the middle, it is true, it is not traceable for some distance ; but it has
been suggested, with great probability, that this part was afterwards filled
up in order to allow a more ready passage into and out of the peninsula.
The canal is best traceable on the southern side, where it is deep and
continuous, varying in breadth from time to time from the soil having
accumulated in places, and marshy at intervals, even in summer ; in the
wet season a considerable stream of water is said to flow down through
it. Near the point where it reaches the sea on this side stood the ancient
town of Sane. The whole place was carefully surveyed for the Admiralty
by Captain Spratt. I may here mention also that when approaching
from this direction the neighbouring village of Erisso (Acanthus), which
lies on the other side of some low hills to the north-west, I passed a large
and high mound, which at first I took for the acropolis, until the real
acropolis came in view, with the remains of Hellenic walls on one of its
sides. I have little doubt that this was the tomb of Artacha;es, who
superintended the cutting of the canal, for Herodotus speaks of his having
been buried at Acanthus and of a mound having been raised over his
grave by the whole Persian army.' — The Highlands of Turkey^ vol. i.
ch. vi.
WE MEET A WOMAN 395
saying good-bye to the captain started for St. Nicholas.
It took us an hour to reach the village. On the way
we passed a gleaner in a cornfield ; we started and
looked at each other, for it was a woman ! And then
we smiled ; for we knew that the spell of the Holy
Mountain was broken. Of course every soul in
St Nicholas came out to see us. We were taken
to the custom-house, where the officer insisted upon
opening the hamper. After some delay this matter
was settled, and fresh mules being obtained we left at
a quarter to nine, being anxious to out-travel all rumours
of our advance.
Our party consisted of six persons : ourselves,
mounted on three mules — the other two mules carry-
ing the baggage — the owner of the caravan, who rode
the sorriest nag conceivable, and two sturdy young
muleteers who followed on foot. At first our road led
across the base of the central promontory of Longos,
and then, striking the eastern shore of the Gulf of
Cassandra, proceeded along the sea coast, which is
bordered by low cliffs of red sand. Shortly after noon
we dismounted and lunched under a mulberry tree in
a melon field, off dry bread and some melons which
our muleteers gathered for us. Again we proceeded
along the Gulf of Cassandra until we reached its limit,
when, continuing our straight course, we ascended a
tableland from which we had g-ood views of the two
western promontories, the great peak of Athos^behind
us and the Gulf of Salonica in front.
The country through which we had passed in
com.ing from St. Nicholas consisted partly of unculti-
vated land, covered with low thick bushes, and partly
of vineyards, corn-fields, and mulberry groves (for the
39^ MOUNT ATHOS
silkworms). It seemed to be very thinly populated ;
we saw but few natives during our ride.
As it grew dark we descended to a small straggling
village, but passed it, as our muleteers were anxious
to reach a farm belonging to the Monastery of Zo-
graphou. It had been threatening to rain all day,
and we had seen it pouring on the neighbouring
hills. Now thunder and lightning commenced and
caused us to urge forward the mules with all possible
haste ; but it was a very black night and we could
not proceed so fast as we wished for fear of missing
the road. After an hour of this sort of riding we
reached the farm, just in time to avoid the rain, and
knocked furiously at the gate. In about five minutes
we were admitted and were received by the monks
with much hospitality.
We had an excellent supper, consisting of a strong
brew of our preserved soup, fresh eggs, and sheep's
milk, and then retired to bed, quite tired out, as it was
half-past seven o'clock and we had been riding for
twelve hours in the hot sun, after a broken night's rest
and on very inadequate food.
Thursday, September ^^ Rose, very loath, at day-
break, and after breakfasting off eggs and preserved
soup started from the farm at six o'clock. The
storm had passed away during the night, leaving, how-
ever, clouds behind it. For this we were thankful, as
the sun in these parts is, in the month of September,
still too hot for comfort at midday. During the next
four or five hours we rode over an undulating and
little cultivated country, the tortoises crawling over
the sandy soil being nearly the only sign of animal
life. Last night we had questioned the monks as to
ARRIVAL AT SALON ICA
\97
their manner of farming, and they told us that, as they
own very large tracts of land, they only cultivate a
portion at a time, moving on from field to field until
they have gone through the whole, which they do in
about seven years. Owing to their thus allowing the
land to lie fallow so long they use no manure, and yet
raise large quantities of corn. They also cultivate
grapes and silk ; the latter they send to Salonica. We
lunched under a wild pear tree off bread and hard-
boiled eggs, and then starting afresh, in two hours'
time gained the top of a hill, from whence we saw the
great town of Salonica, lying between the hills and
the sea, on the farther side of an immense plain which
lay in front of us. I calculated the distance at four
hours' journey, but it was nearer five before we reached
the walls. We descended into the plain through a
dry torrent bed, and after riding some little distance
forded a stream and found ourselves on the remnants
of a narrow, roughly jtaved road : this was the famous
Via Egnatia.
Making all the haste we could to cover the road
between us and the town before nightfall — for this was
of course the part of the route we had most to fear,
owing to the time that had elapsed since our departure
from Athos had become known — we reached the suburbs
of the town at about half-past six. The sight of our
cavalcade astonished the natives, who at the time were
full of the capture of their pasha. The authorities of
the town had just published a declaration that they
would not be responsible for the safety of those ad-
venturous citizens who chose to prolong their drives
beyond the outposts ; hence no little excitement was
created by two Englishmen riding in from the country
398 MOUNT ATHOS
with their portmanteaux stuffed with golden liras, for
such is the annoying superstition respecting every
British traveller. Soon we were safe within the white
walls of Salon ica, and at half-past seven drew rein at
the doors of the Hotel Colombo.
After a few days spent in exploring this interesting
town — with the assistance of Mr. J. E. Blunt, C.B.,
our most hospitable consul-general, and of Mr.
Crosbie, a Presbyterian missionary who has lived for
many years in Salon ica and is accurately acquainted
with its antiquities — we left for England vid Athens,
Brindisi, and Rome (the latter in spite of the warnings
we had received from Archbishop Philotheos, who
feared we should be contaminated by papistry), and
thence after a short stay we travelled direct to Paris.
On October lo, a familiar cry announced that our
toils were over and the circle of our three months'
journey was completed — * Restez, messieurs, dans les
voitures pour le bateau. Calais ! '
And now it is time for me to part from my readers,
if indeed there be any that have borne so long with my
old monks and have come with me to our journey's end.
My object throughout these pages has been two-
fold. In the first place I have endeavoured to de-
scribe with some minuteness — often, I fear, rather
wearisome to the ordinary reader — the present condition
of the Athos monasteries and their contents, in order
to furnish those few travellers who may visit the
peninsula with a sort of handbook for their journey, and
also that future historians of the Holy Mountain may
have certain statistics and information for comparison
with their own times. For that a complete history of
CONCLUSION 399
this strange community will be written some day I
have little doubt ; it will need a long sojourn on the
promontory, hard work with camera and pencil, and
much patient investigation of charters and manuscripts
both at Athosand at St. Petersburg, whither a number
of documents relating to the monasteries seem to have
been carried.
Besides my description of Athos I have tried to give
a picture of the Greek Church as it is to-day, of the
Greek ecclesiastics and religious, and of the habits of
thought that obtain amongst them, and I have been
studiously careful that the picture should not err on the
side of flattery. The Catholic Church has been now
unhappily divided for over eight centuries, with the
result that the East has been operated upon by one
set of influences, the West by another. Peculiarities,
good and bad, have developed in each, and both in-
terpret the Holy Scriptures and the traditions of the
Church with a certain amount of individuality. When
a river is divided into two streams each branch as it
runs along receives into its volume divers little brooks
and rivulets, different from those which go to swell the
volume of the other, so that you shall find at last that
the water in the one stream yields a different analysis
from that taken from the other. Thus it is with the
Churches possessed of several centuries of different
histories.
Whilst the Orientals can learn much from us we
can learn many things from them, and this study of
our fellow-Christians is the antidote to that excessive
insularity to which the Anglican Church is most par-
ticularly liable. Such a study too, by drawing us
closer to our brethren, helps us to prepare for the im-
400 MOUNT ATIIOS
pending struggle of Christendom against the gathering
forces of the Evil One. These are dark days ; infidelity
is increasing, tolerant of everything but dogmatic truth,
and it seems as if before long the Church of Christ
would be purified from the evils of the great schism
in the eleventh century and the great rebellion in the
sixteenth by the fierce flames of martyrdom, and the
divided Communions be welded together upon the
anvil of persecution.
Suffer me to close these few remarks with two ex-
tracts from a work by Sir Paul Ricaut,^ an old traveller
on the Holy Mountain, which are well worthy of our
consideration, especially as they were published with
the imprimatur of an Archbishop of Canterbury.
After telling us that he will not ' enter the Lists of
Disputation against any point maintained by the Greek
Church, but, however, shall boldly reprove it,' and
having spoken justly but temperately withal of its
coldness and formalism, he proceeds to recognize the
lessons which we can learn from our brethren in the
faith.
' Yet I cannot but almost retract what I have said,
when I consider how they are startled and affrighted
at the Sentence of Excommunication ; how strict and
frequent some are in their Confessions, how obedient
and submissive to the censure and injunction of the
Priest ; which certainly do evidence some inward
tenderness of Conscience, and dispositions towards
^ The Present State of the Greek and Armenian Churches, Anno
Christi 1678. Written at the Command of his Majesty by Paul Ricaut,
Esquire, Late Consul at Smyrna, and Fellow of the Royal Society.
London, 1679. Imprimatur hie Liber cui Titulus, The Present State, etc.
Car. Trumball Rev. in Christo Pat. ac Dom. Dom. Gul. Archiep. Cant, a
Sac. dom. Ex ^Ed. Lamb. 8 Feb. 167^
CONCLUSION 401
being edifyed, and built up in a more perfect frame
and structure of Religion. But here I lose myself and
am amazed when I contemplate the light of the Gospel
which shines in our Islands, what daily Lectures we
hear from the Pulpits ; the knowledge we have from
the Scriptures, expanded and laid open to us in our
own Tongue, the Divine Mysteries expounded by
learned Commentaries, and most Mechanicks amongst
us more learned and knowing than the Doctors and
Clergy of Greece : And yet, good God ! That all this
should serve to render us more blind, or more perverse ;
for who is it that values the Excommunication of a
Bishop, or other Ecclesiastical Censures ? Who ac-
counts of Vigils and Fasts according to the Institutions
of the Universal, and of their own Church ? or weighs
the private Instructions of a Priest, who is the Monitor
of his Soul ? ^ Nay, even those who profess Obedience
to the Church of England, and attribute an efficacy to
the power of the Keys, and would not for the world
be under an. Excommunication, and hold themselves
obliged to celebrate the Feasts with devotion and
rejoycing, and account the non-observance thereof the
Characteristical point of a Phanatic : yet, when the
Anniversary Fasts take their turn, which impose the
same injunction on them of keeping holy, as do the
Feasts, they find excuses to evade the obligation, and
dispute against all Penance, Mortification, and Severi-
ties of life, as grounded on the Doctrine of Merits, and
1 'Another great help to support and maintain the Eastern Church, is
their Confession to a Priest — I know not how far the Roman Clergy may
have abused this Excellent evidence of repentance, this Ordinance of the
Gospel, this admirable means to inflame our devotion, and to guide and
instruct us in the rules of holy Living.' — Present State of the Greek and
Armenian Churches, Sf'c.
D D
402 MOUNT ATHOS
Works of Supererogation : And in this manner elude
that admirable duty enjoyned by Christ himself, where
he saith, That when the Bridegroom is taken away
fro7n them then they should fast, and would abolish
that signal mark of Christianity, which by its rigour
and frequency distinguishes it from all other Religions
in the World. Some, I know, will be apt to attribute
this abridgment of the Clergies' power to their super-
eminent knowledge, and more clear light of Scripture,
that they are better instructed than to be guided by
their Priests, or to stand in awe of the condemnation
of a supercilious Prelate : but such Learning as this,
derived from the Principles of Pride and Licentious-
ness, is far worse than ignorance : and that Person who
is humble and submissive, apt and willing to be in-
structed, is a better Christian, and in a more secure
path and way to Godliness and Heaven, than he, that
having heard and read much, stands dangerously
towring on the presumptuous Pinnacle of his own
Reason.'
' For conclusion. In this manner this Mountain of
Athos is inhabited, and this is the Government amongst
these Religious men of the Greek Church, who are for
the most part good simple men of godly lives, given
greatly to devotion and acts of mortification ; for as
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, so
these men discoursing with a lively sense of God and
of his Service, we may without over-much credulity,
or easiness of belief, conclude them not only to be real
and moral good men, but such also as are something
touched with the Spirit of God; whose devotion and
affection to his Commands and Precepts, shall carry
them farther in their way to Heaven, than the wisdom
CONCLUSION 403
of the most profound Philosophers, or the wisest
Clerks. And that such people are found in the worlds
endowed with such Priviledges, in the Countries of the
Grand Oppressour of Christendom, to God's Name be
Glory and Hottour, now and for ever. Amen^
APPENDIX.
THE DISPERSION OF THE WOOD OF THE CROSS.
The Cross of Christ was discovered in A.D. 326 by the
Empress Helena and Macarius, Patriarch of Jerusalem — an
event which convulsed Christendom, and which is still com-
memorated by the Christian Church on May 3 — the feast of
the ' Invention of the Cross,' as it is called in the kalendar
of our Book of Common Prayer.
The Holy Rood remsfined entire until A.D. 636, when, to
provide against the possible calamity of its total destruction
by the infidels, it was decided to divide it into nineteen por-
tions. This was done, and the parts were distributed in the
following proportion :
Constantinople
Cyprus .
Antioch .
Crete
Edessa .
Jerusalem .
Georgia .
Alexandria
Ascalon .
Damascus
Rohault de Fleury calculates that the total volume of the
Wood of the Cross was somewhere about 178,000,000 cubic
millimetres. He has made a careful list of all the relics of
the True Cross known to exist in Christendom at the present
day, with their measurements, and finds the volume to be
about 3,942,000 cubic millimetres, so that, as might have been
expected, the greater part of the Holy Rood has disappeared.
He also had the opportunity of making a microscopical
406 MOUNT ATHOS.
examination of different relics, and comes to the conclusion
that the Wood was either pine or something closely allied
to it.
Of places where relics of the Holy Cross have accumulated,
Mount Athos stands pre-eminent with a total volume of
878,360 cubic millimetres; then Rome with 537,587; Brussels,
516,090; Venice, 445,582; Ghent, 436,450, and Paris with
237,731. Hardly anything is left in England, and nearly all
of what exists amongst us is in the possession of members of
the Roman Church.
H.
GREEK ECCLESIASTICAL MUSIC.
The Byzantine musicians recognise eight modes, four
authentic and four plagal. I propose to give as specimens
melodies written in the Second Mode Plagal and the Fourth
Authentic.
The scale of the Second Mode Plagal is that used most
generally in the East, not only by the Greeks but also by
Mohammedans, nearly all the Turkish secular airs being
written within its compass. It is as follows :
^■^-^-^
>-Cj<S-
Rather a trying sequence, you will say ! But observe that
it is not founded upon the modern system of octaves, but is a
succession of similar quints, the final note of each being the
first of the ensuing one. Play the scale again, striking the
connecting notes twice so as to separate the quints, and you
will find the whole more tolerable to your ear.
Now for the example :
APPENDIX.
407
i
Moderato.
^
'^=^
:^
:it:=i:
i
1-
fia>v
©€ - 6s, yvw - T€ f - 6vrj, Kol ^T
q=^
W^
:^=*=i:
= III = — I t_=r
litiitil:
ffOe 8 - Ti ^€ - 6'^ - jutSj/ d 06 - <$s. 'E - Tra - kou - aa-re
i
-j— )— t-
■J-H«-J-
^=
^
3^Z=J=lt
3i!=^:
€ - «s ^ - (Txii - Tov TTJs yrjs 3 - ti /xed' 7] - jxwv 6 &€ - 6s,
The foregoing can be played on a piano or other keyed
instrument; but the next piece of music, written in the Fourth
Authentic Mode, contains quarter to7ies, inadmissible in modern
European music, and difficult of execution even when the
sounds can be produced, as by the voice or by an instrument
like the violin. This is the scale :
iT^SS;
-^
-Z2Z
~r>z
k
tone tone
I
tone
Here the signs '\ and ^ denote respectively the alteration
of a quarter of a tone in ascending and a quarter of a tone in
descending, or, so to speak, a half-sharp and a half-flat.
The melody I have chosen is that for one of the most
solemn parts of the Oriental liturgy, the Cherubic Hymn,
which is sung during the Great Entrance. This sublime
composition, incapable of satisfactory translation, is said to
have been added to the Constantinopolitan liturgy in the sixth
century ;''^the music, as given below, is probably coeval with
the words. I originally intended to give the melody of <I'ft>s
iXapov, * Hail Gladdening Light,' the evening hymn of the
Eastern Church, as a specimen of a piece of music reputed to
be ancient in the fourth century, but the composition was too
long for this appendix. The music of the Cherubic Hymn,
being very typical, very solemn, and of considerable antiquity,
may be considered a fair substitute.
4o8
MOUNT ATHOS.
Lentissimo.
F^
g=ri^ J'M.
^-g) t^ ^-t^^=^-
rrr ^
S
Ot tA X*
pOV=:
w
n
ii^3^
q*=fzzit=i:
i^=J
:=n=
:^
:;il:*:
Xe - - pov - Pl/x
:^
^:f±^t=5l:
-P— »i — 1» — P — fg — ^-^f-^ — jt-
JUU - ffTt - KWS ft - - KO
&
^
^S=^^— f^I^^^-f-^
:^:
^
- fo =
i^r -
q^:
:*;:=*:
iS^i
- Co"
^^
q^
--^-
-^-
:i=
:^:
:z±
1*=^
^n^:
fcai
^
=F
:*=:;it
:*z^
re^zi^^gzg^ — i^ -P-^---^
Tp
:?=1=psf:
^^
:^=it^
^E^F
:*=2±
2:^
("O)
=psi^=l=
:^ ^ M.
-^—^r
-Jv-;;r^:=^
iroj, etc.
This is only the first portion of the hymn. The following
is the translation of the whole, an asterisk being placed at the
end of our extract :
Let us wJio mystically repi'esent the Chenibim, and to the
qiiickenmg* Trinity si7ig the Trisagion, lay by at this time all
worldly cares, that we may receive the King of Glory, invisibly
attended by the Angelic Orders. Alleluya, Alleluya, Allelnya.
APPENDIX. 409
The Greek notation is quite different from the modern
Western ; there is no stave, the musical sounds being repre-
sented by peculiar marks and accents placed over the words.
I am indebted to the kindness of Monsieur L.-A. Bourgault-
Ducoudray for the examples transposed into European nota-
tion, partly by the aid of the signs of which this French
musician was, I believe, the inventor. Those who wish to
pursue the study of Eastern music will do well to consult his
Etudes sur la Musique Ecclcsiastique Grecque, Hachette et
Cie, Paris, 1877, a work which contains many other examples
of the different Byzantine modes.
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WORKS OF REFERENCE -
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23
20
30
21
33
12
II
3i<
INDEX
Page
Abbott (Evelyn)
(J. H. M.)
(T. K.) -
(E. A.) -
Acland (A. H. D.)
Acton (Eliza) -
Adelborg<0.) -
^schylus
Ainger (A. C.) -
Albemarle (Earl of)
Alcock (C. W.)
AUen (Grant) -
Allgood (G.) -
Alverstone (Lord)
Angwin (M. C.)
Anstey (F.)
Aristophanes -
Aristotle -
Armstrong (W.)
Arnold (Sir Edwin)
(Dr. T.) -
Ashbourne (Lord)
Ashby (H.)
Ashley (W. J.) -
Avebury (Lord)
Ayre (Rev. J.) -
- 17.18
17
3
39
32
22
14
13
15
30
3
15
- 36
as
22
17
13
- Ill 23
3
3
- 36
31
OF AUTHORS
I Page
I Baring-Gould (Rev.
I S.)- - - -21,38
Barnett (S. A. and H.) 2o
I Baynes (T. S.) - - 38
! Beaconsfield (Earl of) 25
I Beaufort (Duke oO - 13, 14
\ Becker (W. A.) - 22
I Beesly (A. H.) - - 9
i Bell (Mrs. Hugh) - 23
Bent (J. Theodore) - 11
Besant (Sir Walter)- «
Bickerdyke(J.)
Bird (G.) -
Blackburne (J. H.)
Bland (Mrs. Hubert)
Blount (Sir E.)
Boase (Rev. C. W.)
' Boedder (Rev. B.)
Bonnell (H. H.)
Bacon
Bagehot (W.) -
Bagwell (R.) -
Bailey (H. C.) -
Baillie (A. F.) -
Bain (Alexander)
Baker (J. H.) -
(Sir S. W.)
Balfour (A. J.)
Ball (John)
Banks (M. M.) -
- 9.17
9, 20, 38
3
25
3
17
- 38
II
- 13, 21
Booth (A. J.)
Bottorae (P.) -
Bowen (W. E.)
Brassey (Lady)
(Lord)
Bright (Rev. J. F.) -
Broadfoot (Major W.)
Brooks (H.J.) -
Brown (A. F.) -
(J. Moray)
Bruce (R. I.) -
Bryce (j.) -
Buck (H. A.) -
Buckland (Jas.)
Buckle <H. T.) -
Bull(T.) -
Burke (U. R.) -
Burne-Jones (Sir E.)
Burns (C. L.) -
Burrows (Montagu)
- 14. 15
23
15
24
9
6
19
38
38
25
9
AND EDITORS
Page
Dale (L.)
(T. F.)
Dallinger (F. W.)
Dauglish (M. G.)
Davenport (A.)
Davidson (A. M. C.) 22
(W. L.) - 17,20,21
Davies (J. F.) - . 22
Dent (C. T.) -
De Salis (Mrs.)
De Tocqueville (A.)
Devas (C. S.) -
Dickinson (G. L.)
(W. H.) -
Dougall (L.) -
Dowden (E.)
Butler (E. A.) - - 30
Cameron of Lochiel is
Campbell(Rev.Lewis) 21 ,22
Chasseloup - Laubat
(Marquis de)- - 13
Chesney (Sir G.) - 3
Childe-Pemberton(W.S.) 9
Chisholm (G. C ) - 31
Cholmondeley-Pennell
(H.) - - . 13
Christie (R. C.) - 38
ChurchilK W. Spencer) 4, 25
Cicero - - - 22
Clarke (Rev. R. F.) - 19
Climenson (E. J.) - 10
Clodd (Edward) - 21,30 I J^"","":^-*'^.'' r.' I
ritittprhiirlr IW 1 \. ic Dovle (Sir A. Conan)
Ulutterbuck (W.J.)- 12 , jj^j g^.^ j^ g g ^'
Pagi'
i
H
5
9
25
36
4
19,20
Colenso (R. J.)
Conington (John) -
Conway (Sir W. M )
Conybeare (Rev. W. J.)
& Howson (Dean)
Coolidge (W. A. B.)
Corbett (Julian S.) -
Coutts (W.) -
Coventry (A.) -
Cox (Harding)
Crake (Rev. A. D.) -
Craven (W. G.)
Crawford (J. H.) -
(R.) - - -
Creed (S.)
14
13
32
14
25
II
25
Creighton (Bishop) - 4, 6^ 9
Cross (A. L.) - - 5
Crozier(J. B.) -
Castance (Col. H.) -
Cutts (Rev. E. L.) -
Dabney (J. P.) -
Dufferin (Marquis of)
Dunbar (Mary F.) -
Dyson (E.)
33 i Ebrington (Viscount)
" EUisd. H.) -
(ft. L.) - -
Erasmus • . .
Evans (Sir John) -
Falkiner (C. L.)
Farrar (Dean) -
Fitzmaurice (Lord E.)
Folkard (H. C.)
Ford (H.) -
Fountain (P
^ Fowler (Edith H.) -
- ,^ I Francis (Francis) -
'• ]l I Francis (M. E.)
? j Freeman (Edward A.)
i Fremantle (T. F.) -
23 I Fresnfield (D. W.) -
38
35
40
25
5
14
25
26
15
15
17
9
38
4
20, 26
4
15
16
II
26
16
26
6
16
14
INDEX OF
Page
Frost (G.) - - . 38
Froude (lames A.) 4,9,11,26
Fuller (P. W.) - - 5
Furneaux (W.) - 30
Gardiner (Samuel R.) 5
Gathorne-Hardy (Hon.
A. E.) - - 15, 16
Geikie (Rev. Cunning-
ham) - - - 38
Gibbons (J. S.) - 15
Gibson (C. H.)- - 17
Gleig (Rev. G. R.) - 10
Gore-Booth (Sir H. W.) 14
Graham (A.) - . 5
(P. A.) - - 15, 16
(G. F.) - - 20
Granby (Marquess of) 15
Grant (Sir A.) - - 17
Graves (R. P.) - - 9
Green (T. Hill) - 17, 18
Greene (E. B.)- - 5
Greville (C. C. F.) - 5
Grose (T. H.) - - 18
Gross (C.) - - 5
Grove (F. C.) - - 13
(Lady) - - 11
(Mrs. Lilly) - 13
Guiney (L. I.) - - 9
Gurdon (Lady Camilla) 26
Gurnhill (J.) - - i8
Gwilt (J.) - - - 31
Haggard (H. Rider)
1 1, 26, 27, 38
Hake(0.)- - - 14
10
5
36
5
13. 14
27
15
30
Halliwell-PhillippsQ.)
Hamilton (Col. H. B.)
Hamlin (A. D. F.) -
Harding (S. B.)
Harmsworth (A. C.)
Harte (Bret) -
Harting(J. E.)-
Hartwig (G.) -
Hassall (A.) - - 8
Haweis (H. R.) - 9, 36
Head (Mrs.) - - 37
Heath (D. D.) - - 17
Heathcote (J. M.) - 14
(C. G.) - - 14
(N.) - - - II
Helmholtz (Hermann
von) - - . 30
/Henderson (Lieut-
Col. G. F. R.) - 9
jHenry (W.) - - 14
Henty (G. A.) - - 32
Herbert (Col. Kenney) 15
Higgins (Mrs. N.) - g
Hill (Mabel) - - 5
Hillier (G. Lacy) - 13
Hime (H. W. L.) - 22
;Hodgson (Shadworth) 18
.Hoenig(F.) - - 38
Hogan (J. F.) - - 9
Molmes (R. R.) - 10
Homer - - - 22
Mope (Anthony) - 27
Horace - - - 22
Houston (D. F.) - 5
Howard (Lady Mabel) 27
Howitt(W.) - - II
Hudson (W. H.) - 30
Huish (M. B.) - - 37
HuUah (J.) - - 37
Hume (David) - - 18
(M. A. S.) - 3
Hunt (Rev. W.) - 6
Hunter (Sir W.) - 6
Hutchinson (Horace G.)
13, 16, 27, 38
Ingelow (lean) - 23
Ingram (t. D.) - 6
Tames (W.) - - 18, 21
Ja/neson (Mrs. Anna) 37
'efferies (Richard) - 38
Jekyll (Gertrude) - 38
Jerome (Jerome K.)- 27
ohnson (J. & J. H.) 39
lones (H. Bence) - 31
Joyce (P. W.)
Justinian-
Kant (L) -
Kaye (Sir J. W.)
6, 27, 39
18
18
6
AUTHORS
Page
Keary (C. F.) - - 2^
KeUy(E.)- - - 18
Kent (C. B. R.) - 6
Kerr (Rev. J.) - - 14
Kielmansegge (F.) - 9
Killick (Rev. A. H.) - 18
Kitchin (Dr. G. W.) 6
Knight (E. F.) - - 11, 14
Kostlin (J.) - - 10
Kristeller (P.) - - 37
Ladd (G. T.) - - 18
Lang (Andrew) 6, 14, 16, 21,
22, 23, 27, 32, 39
Lapsley (G. T.) - 5
Lascelles (Hon. G.) 13, 15
Laurie (S. S.) - - 6
Lawley (Hon. F.) - 14
Lawrence (F. W.) - 20
Lear (H. L. Sidney) - 36
Lecky (W. E. H.) 6, 18, 23
Lees (J. A.) - - 12
Leighton (J. A.) - 21
Leslie (T. E. Cliffe) - 20
Lieven (Princess) - 10
Lillie (A.)- - - 16
Lindley (J.) - - 31
Locock (C. D.) - 16
Lodge (H. C.) - - 6
Loftie (Rev. W. J.) - 6
Longman (C. J.) - 12, 16
(F. W.) - - 16
(G. H.) - -12,15
(Mrs. C. J.) - 37
Lowell (A. L.) - - 6
Lucian - - - 22
Lutoslawski (W.) - 18
Lyall (Edna) - - 27, 32
Lynch (G.) - - 6
(H. F. B.)- - 12
Lyttelton (Hon. R. H.) 13
(Hon. A.) - - 14
Lytton (Earl of) - 24
Macaulay (Lord) 6, 7, 10, 24
Macdonald (Dr. G.) - 24
Macfarren (Sir G. A.) 37
MackaiKJ. W.) - 10
Mackenzie (C. G.) - 16
Mackinnon (J.) - 7
Macleod (H. D.) - 20
Macpherson (Rev.H.A.) 15
~ ". jg
28
19
7
6
27
9
39
27
16
39
31
AND EDI TO R S— continued.
Ogilvle (R.) -
Oldfield (Hon. Mrs.)
Onslow (Earl of)
Osbourne (L.) -
Packard (A. S.)
Paget (Sir J.) -
Park (W.)
Parker (B.)
Payne-Gallwey (Sir
R.)
Page
22
9
14
28
16
40
14, 16
6
10
14
Pearse (H. H. S.) -
Pearson (C. H.)
Peek (Hedley) -
Pemberton (W. S.
Childe-) - - 9
Pembroke (Earl of) - 14
Pennant (C. D.) - 15
Penrose (H. H.) - 33
Phillipps-Wolley (C.) 12, 28
Pierce (A. H.) - - 19
Pitman (C. M.) - 14
Pleydell-Bouverie (E. O.) 14
Pole(W.)- - - 17
Pollock (W. H.) - 13, 40
Poole (W.H. and Mrs.) 36
Poore (G. V.) - - 40
Pope (W. H.) - - 15
Powell (E.) - - 7
Powys (Mrs. P. L.) - m
Praeger (S. Rosamond)
Prevost (C.)
Pritchett (R. T.)
Proctor (R. A.)
Page
40
Southey (R.) -
Spedding (J.) -
Spender (A. E.) - 12
Stanley (Bishop) - 31
Stebbing (W.) - - 28
Steel (A. G.) - - 13
Stephen (Leslie) - 12
Stephens (H. Morse) 8
Sternberg (Count
Adalbert) - - 8
Stevens (R. W.) - 40
Stevenson (R. L.) 25,28,33
Storr (F.) ... 17
Stuart-Wortley(A.J.) 15
Stubbs (J. W.) - - 8
(W.)- - - 8
SufTolk & Berkshire
(Earl of) - - 14
Sullivan (Sir E.) - 14
Sully (James) - - 19
Sutherland (A. and G.) 8
(Alex.) - - 19, 40
McFerran (J.)
Meade (L. T.)
Mecredy (R. J.)
Melville (G. J. Whyte)
Madden (D. H.)
Magniisson (E.)
Maher (Rev. M.) -
Mallet (B.)
Malleson (Col. G. B.)
Marchment (A. W.)
Marshman (J. C.) -
Maryon (M.) -
Mason (A. E. W.) -
Maskelyne (J. N.) -
Matthews (B.)
Maunder (S.) -
Max Muller (F.)
10, i8, 20, 21, 22, 27, 39
Mav(SirT. Erskine) 7
14
32
13
^. .-^.,, 27
Merivale (Dean) - 7
Merriman (H. S.) - 27
Mill (John Stuart) - 18, 20
Millias (J. G.) - - 16, 30
Milner (G.) - - 40
Mitchell (E. B.) 13
Monck (W. H. S.) - 19
Montague (F. C.) - 7
Moore (T.) - - 31
(Rev. Edward) - 17
Morgan (C. Lloyd) - 21
Morris (Mowbray) - 13
(W.) - - 22, 23, 24,
27i 28, 37, 40
Mulhall (M. G.) - 20
Murray (Hilda) - 33
Nansen (F.) - - 12
Nash (V.) ... 7
Nesbit (E.) - - 24
Nettleship (R. L.) - 17
Newman (Cardinal) - 28
Nichols (F. M.) - 9
Oakesmith (J.) - - 22
Raine (Rev. James) -
Ramal (W.) -
Randolph (C. F.) -
Rankin (R.)
Ransome (Cyril)
Reid (S. J.)
Rhoades (J.) -
Rice (S. P.)
Rich (A.) -
Richardson (C.)
Richmond (Ennis) -
Rickaby (Rev. John)
(Rev. Joseph) -
Ridley (Lady Alice) -
Riley (J. W.) -
Roberts (E. P.)
Robertson (W. G.) -
Roget (Peter M.)
Rolls (Hon. C. S.) -
Romanes (G.J.) lo, 19,21,24
(Mrs. G. J.) - 10
Ronalds (A.) - - 17
Roosevelt (T.) - - 6
Ross (Martin) - - 28
Rossetti (Maria Fran-
cesca) - - - 40
Rotheram (M. A.) - 36
Rowe (R. P. P.) - 14
Russell (Lady)- - 10
Saintsbury (G.) - 15
Salomons (Sir D.) - 13
Sandars (T. C.) - 18
Sanders (E. K.) - 9
Savage-Armstrong(G.F.)25
"'"" '" " 37
33
13
14
17,30
6
24
7
8,25
3,8
9
23
12
23
13.15
19
19
19
28
24
33
37
20, 31
13
Scott (F. J.)
Scott-Montagu
(Hon. J.) - -
Seebohm (F.) -
Selous (F. C.) -
Senior (W.) -
Seth-Smith (C. E.) -
Seton-Karr
Sewell (Elizabeth M.)
Shadwell (A.) -
Shakespeare
Shand (A L) -
Shaw (W. A.) -
Shearman (M.)
Sheehan (P. A.)
Sheppard (E.) -
Sinclair (A.)
Skrine (F. H.) -
Smith (C. FeU)
(R. Bosworth) -
(T. C.) - -
Smith(W.P. Haskett)
Somerville (E.)
Sophocles
Soulsby (Lucy H.) -
40
29
29
19
33
o '3
8, 10
12, 17
14.15
14
8
28
40
25
15
8
12, 13
28
8
H
9
(G.) -
Suttner (B. von)
Swan (M.)
Swinburne (A. J.) -
Symes (J. E.) -
Tait(J.) - - -
Tallentyre (S. G.) -
Tappan (E. M.)
Tavlor (Col. Meadows)
Tebbutt (C. G.) - 14
Terry (C. S.) - - 10
Thomas (J. W.) - ig
Thomson (H. C.)
Thornhill (W. ].) - 23
Thornton (T. H.) - 10
Thuillier (H. F.) - 40
Todd (A.) - . - 8
Tout (T. F.) - - 7
Toynbee (A.) - - 20
Trevelyan (Sir G. O.)
6, 7, 8, 9, 10
(G. M.) - - 7, 8
TroUope (Anthony)- 29
Turner (ri. G.) - 40
Tyndall (J.) - - 9, la
Tyrrell (R. Y.) - -22,23
Unwin (R.) - - 40
Upton(F.K.and Bertha) 33
Van Dyke (J. C.) - 37
Vanderpoel (E. N.) - 37
' Veritas ' - - - 5
Virgil ... 23
Wagner (R.) - - 25
Wakeman (H. O.) - 8
Walford (L. B.) - 39
Wallas (Graham) - i»
(Mrs. Graham) - 32
Walpole (Sir Spencer) 8, ro
(Horace) - - 10
Walrond (Col. H.) - 12
Walsingham(Lord)- 14
Ward (Mrs. W.) - 39
Warwick (Countess of) 40
Watson (A. E. T.) - 14
(G.L.) - - 14
Weathers (J.) - - 40
Webb (Mr. and Mrs.
Sidney)
(Judge T.)
(T. E.) - - 19
Weber (A.) - - 19
Weir (Capt. R.) - 14
Wellington (Duchess of) 37
Wemyss (M. C. E.)- 33
Weyman (Stanley) - 39
Whately(Archbishop) 17,19
Whitelaw (R.) - - 23
WhittalUSirJ. W.)- 40
Wilkins (G.) - - 33
(W.H.) - - 3
Willard (A. R.) - 12
Willich (C. M.) - 31
Witham (T. M.) - 14
Wood (Rev. J. G.) - 31
Wood-Martin (W. G.) 32
Wyatt(A. J.) - - 24
Wylie (J. H.) - - 8
Yeats (S. Levett) - 29
Yoxall (J. H.) - - 29
Zeller(E.) - ■ 19
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The Odyssey of Homer. Done
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Certain of the Poetical Works may also be
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The Ea r thl y Para dise.
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MESSRS. LONGMANS & CO.'S STANDARD AND GENERAL WORKS.
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Digby Grand.
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28 MESSRS. LONGMANS & CO.'S STANDARD AND GENERAL WORKS.
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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll
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' Silver Library ' Edition. Crown 8vo.,
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More New Arabian Nights — The
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The Wrong Box. By Robert
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MESSRS. LONGMANS & CO.'S STANDARD AND GENERAL WORKS.
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Suttner. — Lav Down Your Arms
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TroUope (Anthony).
Ti/E Warden. Cr. 8vo., 15. 6d.
Barchester Towers. Cr.8vo.,i5.6</.
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Charlotte. Crown 8vo., 65.
One of Ourselves. Cr. Svo., 65.
The Intruders. Crown Svo., 25. 6</.
Leddy Marget. Crown 8vo., 25. 6rf.
IvA Kildare : a Matrimonial Pro-
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The Baby's Grandmother. Cr.
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Dick Netherby. Cr. 8vo., 25. ^d.
The History of a Week.
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Cr.
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Nan, and other Stories. Cr. 8vo.,
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The One Good Guest. Cr. 8vo.
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* Ploughed,' and other Stories.
Crown 8vo., 25. 6d.
The Ma tchmaker. Cr. 8vo., 25. 6d.
Ward. — One Poor Scruple. By
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Weyman (Stanley).
The House of the Wolf. With
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A Gentleman of France. With
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The Red Cockade. With Frontis-
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Shrewsbury. With 24 Illustra-
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Sophia. With Frontispiece. Crown
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Yeats (S. Levett-).
The Chevalier DAuriac. Crown
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The Traitor's Way. Cr. Svo., 65.
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30 MESSRS. LONGMANS & CO.'S STANDARD AND GENERAL WORKS.
Popular Seienee (Natural History, &e.).
Butler. — Our Household Insects. Hudson (W. H.)
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The Sea and its Living Wonders.
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Large crown
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Leisure Readings. By R, A. Proc-
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MESSRS. LONGMANS & CO.'S STANDARD AND GENERAL WORKS. 31
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Longmans' Gazetteer of the
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Maunder (Samuel),
Biographical Treasury. With
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The Treasury of Bible Know-
ledge. By the Rev. J. Ayre, M.A. With
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Fcp. 8vo., 6s.
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rary OF Reference. Fcp. 8vo., 6s.
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VJWWch." Popular Tables for giving
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Alick's Adventures- — By G. R.
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Cory. Crown 8vo., 4s. 6d. net.
Buckland. — 7 wo LittleRuna wa ys.
Adapted from the French of Louis Des-
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Crake (Rev. A. D.).
Edwy the Fair ; or, The First
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The Yellow Fairy Book. With
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