The Monastery of St. John is one of the most important places of worship for Orthodox and Western Christians alike. It was founded in 1 088 by a monk, the Blessed Christodoulos, in honor of St. John the Divine, author of the Bible's Book of Revelation. One of the richest and most influential monasteries in Greece, its towers and buttresses make it look like a fairy-tale castle, but were built to protect its religious treasures, which are now the star attraction for the thousands of pilgrims and tourists who visit every year. A

Structure of the day_Monastery of St. John, Patmos

most important places of worship for Orthodox and Western Christians ...

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The Monastery of St. John is one of the most important places of worship for Orthodox and Western Christians alike. It was founded in 1 088 by a monk, the Blessed Christodoulos, in honor of St. John the Divine, author of the Bible's Book of Revelation. One of the richest and most influential monasteries in Greece, its towers and buttresses make it look like a fairy-tale castle, but were built to protect its religious treasures, which are now the star attraction for the thousands of pilgrims and tourists who visit every year

THE BLESSED CHRISTODOULOS

The Christian monk C hristodoulos (slave of Christ) was born around 1020 in Asia Minor. He spent much of his life building monastenes on se~~eral Greek islands. He was given permiSSIOn by the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I C omnenos (r. 1081-1118) to build a temple on Patmos, 1n honor of the Apostles. Christodoulos laid the foundation stone for the Monastery of St John, but died in 1093 before it was completed. His remembrance celebrations are held each year in Patmos on March 16 and October 21.

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NIPTIR CEREMONY

The Orthodox Easter celebrations on Patmos are some of the most important in Greece. Hundreds of people visit Ch6ra to watch the Niptir (washing) ceremony on Maundy Thursday. The abbot of the Monastery of St. John publicly washes the feet of 12 monks, reenacting Christ's washing of his disciples' feet before the Last Supper. The rite was once performed by the Byzantine emperors as an act of humility.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

This is one of the monastery's ten chapels, built because Church law forbade Mass to be heard more than once a day in the same chapel.

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THE TREASURY

Also known as the library, the treasury contains a vast and 1mportant collection of theological and Byzantine works. There is a central room, decorated with plastered arches supported by stone cdumns, off which lie other rooms display1ng religious artifacts. Priceless icons and sacred art, including vestments, chalices, and Benediction crosses, can be viewed. Floor-toceiling bookcases, built into the walls, store rei igious manuscripts and biographical materials, many written on parchment. Manuscripts of note 1nclude the Book of Job, sermons by St George the Theologue, the Purple Code, and a 14th-century voh . .me containing 1m ages of the Evangelists entitled Gospel of Foor. The treasury also possesses 15th-to 18th-century embrc.dered stools and mosaics, as well as beautiful 17th-century furnishings. There are also garments worn by past bishops, some woven in gold thread.

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Monks' Refectory

This room contains two marble tables taken from the Temple of Arterris, which originally occupied the site.

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Main Courtyard

Frescoes of St. John from the 18 th century adorn the outer narthex of the katholikon, whose arcades form an integral part of the courtyard.

Main Entrance

This 17th-century gateway leads up to the cobbled main courtyard. Its walls have slits for pouring boiling oil over marauders.

ST. JOHN AND THE HOLY CAVE

Inside the church of Agia Anna, near the Monastel)l of StJohn, is the Holy Cave of the Apocalypse. It was here that StJohn had the vision of fire and brimstone that inspired the New Testament's Book of Revelatim. The cave contains the rock where John dictated his vision to his disciple, Pr6choros, and the indentation where the saint is said to have rested his head each nig"lt Also visible is the deft in the rock from where the voice of God is said to have spoken to John. The cave also has 12th-century wall pa1ntings and icons from 1596 of St. John and the B lessed Christodoulos by the Cretan painter Thorn as Vatha.

The Warrior

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Monastery of St. John, Patmos-Greece