Catholicon at Dionysiou

Photographer

Horlbeck, Frank R.

Date

• June 25, 1979

Summary

• View of the main catholicon (communal church) at the Dionysiou monastery. This photo shows the apse of the "Prothesis" chapel that forms part of the main building. The catholicon (communal church) was built in 1537-47 and painted in 1546-47 by the Cretan painter Tzortzis. The Dionysiou monastery was founded by the Blessed Dionysios of Koryssos (in Kastoria). An official chrysobull signed by Alexios II Comnenos places the founding of the monastery in 1374. Alexios and later Byzantine emperors supported the monastery financially. After the Ottoman conquest, the monastery received aid from the princes of Danubian lands who helped expand it. The defensive tower of the monastery dates to 1520 and was used for safe-keeping of books and valuables. In 1535 the monastery was destroyed by a fire in which it lost a large portion of its library and valuable possessions. It was rebuilt shortly after. The refectory located close to the catholicon in the south-east wing contains paintings by Cretan painters (16th century) and later paintings by Daniel and Mercurio in 1600.