Xenophontos monastery


Xenophontos monastery is an Orthodox Christian monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece.
It stands by the sea, on the western shore of the Athos peninsula. It was built in the tenth or eleventh century. The monastery is dedicated to St George and has 11 chapels inside and 6 outside. The main church was built just prior to the Greek Revolution of 1821 and is in the neo-classical style. It is perhaps the largest on Mt Athos and has perfect acoustics. A large cross is suspended above the inner sanctum and the choirs of the monks do some of the best traditional Byzantine chanting in the whole peninsula; Vatopedi and Gregioriou may be its only rivals. Abbot Alex is the leader as of 2015. Extensive renovations are being done with money provided by the Greek Government and the EC; many of the workers are from Albania and live nearby. The monastery ranks sixteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. The community has about 55 working monks. Most are Greek, with two senior monks being American.
The library contains c. 300 manuscripts and 4,000 printed books.

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