MONASTERY OF DAPHNI, GREECE The monastery is in Athinon avenue, Daphni, 11 km north-west of Athens, in Chaidari. It is situated near the forest of the same name, on the Sacred Way that led to Eleusis. The forest covers about 15 to 20 km. The Daphnion was founded about the turn of the 6th century, Christianizing the site of the Sanctuary of Apollo Daphnaios that had been desecrated by the Goths in 395, and reusing the Ionic columns of the ancient temple of Apollo in its portico; only one remains, the others having been removed to London by Lord Elgin. The principal church (catholikon), a fine monument of the 11th-century Byzantine art, is a crossin-square church of the octagonal type surmounted by a broad and high dome. The church houses the best preserved complex of mosaics from the early Comnenan period (ca. 1100) when an austere and hieratic manner typical for the Macedonian epoch and represented by the famous Christ Pantocrator image inside the dome, was metamorphosing into a more intimate and delicate style. After the church was sacked by the Crusaders in 1205, Otho de la Roche, Duke of Athens, gave it to the Cistercian Abbey of Bellevaux. The French monks had the exonarthex reconstructed, built a wall around the monastery and effected numerous other changes until the Turks expelled them and restored the monastery to the Orthodox congregation in 1458. Gradually, the impoverished cloister fell into disrepair. The monastery was disbanded by Ottoman authorities in 1821 but restoration work did not commence until 1888. The patrimony was declared a World Heritage Site in 1990. Heavily damaged by the 1999 earthquake, Daphni Monastery is currently closed to the public due to restoration works. Plan St. Bakchos / Bacchus - Mosaic (detail) - c. 1100 St. Bakchos and St. Sergios mosaics - c. 1100 We would like to find a better reproduction of the two mosaics.

HOSIOS LOUKAS MONASTERY: THE KATHOLIKON, GREECE Hosios Loukas is the largest of three monasteries surviving from the Middle Byzantine period in Greece. The monastery of Hosios Loukas is situated at a scenic site on the slopes of Mount Helicon, near Distomo in Phokis. It was founded in the early 10th century by the hermit St. Lukas, whose relics are kept in the monastery to this day. The hermit died on February 7, 953. The Church of the Theotokos adjoins a larger cathedral church, or Katholikon, tentatively dated to 1011-12. St. Bacchus and Sergius - Fresco - 12th century (restored betw. 1953 and 1962)

HOLY MONASTERY OF DIONYSIOU - MOUNT ATHOS - GREECE The Dousikou Monastery is located at an altitude of 650 m on the eastern slopes of Koziakas mountain, 6,5 km from the town of Pyli. It's also know as "Monastery of the Saviour of Dousikou" or "Monastery of Saint Vissarionas". Once upon a time there were 365 cells for the monks, one for each day of the year and unce upon a time they were all full. Dionysiou Monastery was founded in the 14th century by St. Dionysios of Koreseos. The golden bull (chyrsobull) authorizing the founding of the monastery was signed in 1374 by Alexios II Comneno. A treasure, the bull is kept in the monastery. Construction proceeded with financial aid from emperor Alexios III Comnenos. The monastery is built along the western coast of the peninsula on a rocky cliff high above the sea and overlooking a deep wooded ravine. In 1535, the monastery was swept by fire destroying it. Reconstruction began quickly and by 1547 the principal church of the monastery, the katholikon, had been built and painted with several murals (frescos) by the Cretan painter Tzortis. A dynamic community of monks now inhabits Dionysiou and has undertaken the job of renovating and redecorating the older buildings. Torment of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. Tzortzis (Zorzis) Fuca. Fresco. 1547

CHILANDAR MONASTERY ON THE MOUNT ATHOS - GREECE Icon of Saints Sergius and Bacchus from the iconostasis of the monastery on Mount Athos Chilandar (or Hilandar). XVII - XVIII century

PROTATA MONASTERY: MOUNT ATHOS - GREECE Saint Bacchus, painted in 1295 by Manuel Panselinos