The Stavronikita monastery
The Stavronikita monastery was presumably built in the l0th century A.D. and was one of the first to be
founded in the early years of organised monastic life on Athos. It owes its name, according to one
version, to the combination of the names of the monks Stavros and Niketas, who had previously
lived as hermits in the area. The monastery followed the historical fluctuations of Mount Athos
and suffered badly during the period of Frankish rule, to the extent that it was abandoned and
razed to the ground by a series of destructive fires (A.D. 1607, 1741, 1864, 1874, 1879); it was
also, however, the object of benefactions and a wide variety of gifts by patriarchs, elders of the
communities, princes of Wallachia and others. A decisive role in the general renewal of the monastery
was played by Gregorios Giromereiatis (first half of the l6th century A.D.).
The Stavronikita monastery occupies fifteenth position in the hierarchy. The Cretan painter Theophanes
worked there (A.D. 1546).
