Esphigmenou Monastery
Esphigmenou Monastery is one of the 20 self-governing Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos. It is ranked eighteenth in the Athonite, the hierarchical order of the monasteries on the Athos peninsula.
About this building
The monastery was built in the 10th century, although a monastery had existed on the same site since the 5th century. This name was possibly given to it due to the fact that it was built on a piece of land without much space, bounded by the sea and the hills behind. It is the Northernmost monastery on the Mount Athos peninsula.
The community began to decline after the arrival of the Ottomans, and its decline was aggravated by other problems such as the rivalry for land with its neighboring Vatopediou monastery.
