The establishment of the Monastery goes back to the years of the bishop Philip Sozontos, in 451 AD – It was abandoned over the years and was essentially founded by Osios Germanos, in the 8th century.
The Monastery of Panagia Eikosifonissis is a historical monastery, located in the municipality of Amfipoli in the Prefecture of Serres, near the borders with the Prefectures of Kavala and Drama.
The establishment of the Monastery dates back to the years of Bishop Philipps Sozontos, who took part in the 4th Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon, Asia Minor (451 AD).
According to tradition, Bishop Sozon founded, around 450 AD, a Temple and a monastic settlement at Vigla, near the Monastery. This monastic settlement was abandoned over the years and the Monastery was actually founded by Saint Germanos in the 8th century.
According to tradition, Saint Germanos, after becoming a monk in the Holy Monastery of the Holy Forerunner, on the Jordan River, left Palestine and with a vision came to the site of Vigla of Pangaeus around 718. There he discovered the ruins of the old buildings built by Sozon.
He began to build a new Monastery, but the money he had collected for the construction of the Monastery was not enough to pay the craftsmen, so they took him bloodied to Drama to be tried. On the way, the wounded Saint was met by the Constantinople officials Nikolaos and Neophytos, who were traveling to Serbia as envoys of Emperor Basil I of Macedonia.
They paid off the craftsmen and freed Agios, while later they themselves sold their property and became monks in the Monastery, near Agios Germanos.
The monastery with the handmade miraculous icon
It is built at an altitude of 753 meters, on the northern side of Mount Pangaio. Panagia Eikosifinissa, with its handmade miraculous icon, is one of the largest pilgrimages in Macedonia and is the oldest active monastery in Greece and Europe.
The entire Monastery is surrounded by a high wall and in its center is the Temple of the Entry of the Virgin.
In the first and main part of the Monastery is the catholicon, which is its oldest building, the abbess, the cells of the nuns, the mansion, the chapel of Agia Varvara with the sacrament, the museum, the bank and the embroidery and iconography workshops .
The second part of the building facilities of the Monastery includes the three hostel buildings, the presbytery for the officiating Priest of the Monastery and the chapel of Zoodochos Pigi.
The disasters and the martyrdom of the 172 monks
During the Turkish occupation, the contribution of the Monastery to the preservation of Orthodoxy and Hellenism was invaluable, while during its historical course it was destroyed many times by Turkish and Bulgarian raiders.
On August 25, 1507, the Turks massacred 172 monks of the Monastery, because they were disturbed by their action in favor of preserving the Greekness of the population of the region.
Three years later, 10 monks from the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos, came to the Monastery to restore it.
The contribution to the Greek Revolution and Education
During the time of the Revolution of 1821, the Monastery had become the spiritual and national center of Eastern Macedonia and its abbots had close cooperation with the leaders of the Revolution (Nikotsaras, Emmanuel Papas) in Northern Greece.
The Monastery was seriously damaged by an earthquake in 1829, it was burned in 1854 and in 1864 a plague epidemic decimated its brotherhood. Until 1843, a school operated there, called the School of Common Letters or Greek School. The later Ecumenical Patriarch Neophytos VIII also attended this School from 1839 as a student, which is why later on his diploma from the Theological School of Chalkis is written as an Ikosifonisiotis.
With video and information from Point Of View GR, Wikipedia
Source: Skai
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