A deserted byzantine tower on Mount Athos
Abstract
The aim of the present article is to provide some introductory information on the Middle Byzantine tower that survives on the boundary of the Mona stery of Chelandari on Mount Athos. The tower, sited on a small promontory about thirty-five minutes’ walk from the Monastery of Zographou, currently lies in ruins. It is estimated to be about 9.36x6.15 m. in size (including the structure attached to the south wall, which was probably a staircase providing access to the upper storeys).
The monument originally possessed a large number of floors. Its walls are constructed of medium-size stones (as well as smaller brick-like stones) and copious reddish limestone-based concrete. As for the internal structure of the building, a wooden framework was used, the holes for which are still visible. The building was reinforced on all sides with buttresses no more than 30 cm. thick. In design, it resembles the towers of other old Byzantine monasteries on Mount Athos dating from the 10th and 11th centuries (such as the Katsaris Tower), as well as the old walls of some Athonite monasteries, such as the monasteries of Docheiariou, Xenophontos etc.
This tower has been identified as the ‘Albanian’ tower of the Serbian monks of Chelandari and displays at least two Byzantine phases of con struction. In our opinion, the tower must have belonged to some 1 lth-century Middle Byzantine monastery, whose name remains unknown. It appears that in the Late Byzantine era the tower was renovated and then used as a watch- tower for the Monastery of Chelandari.
Article Details
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Ανδρούδης Π. (2000). A deserted byzantine tower on Mount Athos. Makedonika, 32(1), 355–363. https://doi.org/10.12681/makedonika.176
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