The Friends of Mount Athos Book Reviews
© 2006
The Holy Monastery of Pantokrator: A PilgrimÕs Guide. By Symeon Paschalidis. Translated by E.
Tamiolakis. Mount Athos: Monastery of Pantokrator, 2005. 219 pp. Numerous
colour ills. Paperback. ISBN 960-86258-4-X.
This is a most attractive volume in a handy format. In a foreword Abbot
Gabriel says that it is published in response to the express wishes of many
pilgrims for a brief and authoritative introduction to the monasteryÕs
traditions and history. The author, an assistant professor at the Aristoteleion
University of Thessaloniki, writes in his introduction that Ôit is the aim of
this guide, and it is our hope, that pilgrims and readers will be introduced to
the life and the spirit of the monastic tradition that our monastery has humbly
served over the centuries.Õ These aims have been admirably fulfilled. The
publication is also timely: in 2007 Pantokrator will celebrate its 650th
anniversary.
Of
its six chapters the first is devoted to the history of the monastery from its
foundation in 1357 to the year 1992 when it finally abandoned the idiorrhythmic
system, the last ruling monastery on Athos to do so. The second chapter
examines the architectural complex, focusing primarily on the katholikon, part
of which dates from the time of the foundation. A third chapter gives a brief
account of the artistic treasures of the monastery – the murals of the
katholikon, the portable icons, the library, the archive, and the treasury. The
last three chapters survey respectively the monasteryÕs metochia both on and outside Athos, its saints,
sacred relics, and feast days, and finally some of its scholars. Back matter
includes a list of abbots, prohegoumeni, and sacristans, a select bibliography,
and a glossary, but no index. There is acknowledgement of sponsorship by the
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Mr Basil Theocharakis, and the Bank of Attica.
It
is remarkable how much has been achieved at Pantokrator by way of restoration
since 1992. External improvements are immediately apparent from a comparison of
the aerial view on page 14 with the double-page spread on pages 16–17.
Particularly impressive is the work on the tower, the largest such structure on
Athos. When the English traveller Robert Curzon visited in 1837, he found it
ruinous; and on looking inside the lower storey, he Ôsaw the melancholy remains
of a once famous library É By the dim light which streamed through the opening
of an iron door in the wall of the ruined tower, I saw above a hundred ancient
manuscripts lying among the rubbish which had fallen from the upper floor.Õ
Today the tower has been completely restored and its seven storeys contain
impressive interiors. Two basement floors are used for storage. The first floor
houses an exhibition of minor art. On the second floor is the library,
containing hundreds of manuscripts and thousands of printed books as well as
the archive. On the third and fourth floors is the sacristy where the
monasteryÕs treasures are exhibited. Finally on the fifth floor is the Chapel of
the Ascension and the icon store where more than 700 portable icons are kept. A
selection of the monasteryÕs icons and other treasures was displayed in the
exhibition of ÔTreasures of Mount AthosÕ in Thessaloniki in 1997; and a
lavishly illustrated volume entitled Icons of the Holy Monastery of
Pantokrator was published
in 1998 (reviewed by Robin Cormack in the Annual Report of the Friends of
Mount Athos, 1999, pp.
75–80). The PilgrimÕs Guide sets these sacred objects in context.
The
murals of the katholikon form a highly significant group dating from the 1360s
and, according to Euthymius Tsigaridas who has made a detailed study of them,
attributable to the school of Panselinos. Unfortunately they were all
overpainted in the nineteenth century. The monasteryÕs collection of icons, on
the other hand, is indeed remarkable and some of the best of them are
illustrated here. Especially notable is the pull-out of the double-sided icon
showing on one side St John the Forerunner and on the other the Forerunner again
with the Virgin and Child. This dates from around 1363. Also included are some
fine examples of icons from the Cretan school of the sixteenth century
attributed to Theophanes the Cretan and Amvrosios Emboros.
I
have few complaints. The one thing a guidebook needs, if it is to function
properly, is a decent plan of the monastery and this is singularly lacking. The
only plan included (p. 55) is useless for practical purposes since it locates
nothing. The account of the Prophet Elijah skete (pp. 165–7) should be
supplemented by reference to Nicholas FennellÕs recent work, The Russians on
Athos (2001). Perhaps not
surprisingly, the deplorable events of May 1992 when the sketeÕs Russian
brotherhood was expelled are glossed over. As for the notes on the monasteryÕs
long-lost estates outside Athos (pp. 168–76) and some of its scholars
from the past three centuries (pp. 196–203), these are of questionable
relevance to a pilgrimÕs guide.
But
on the whole this guide does the monastery proud. The text is well written and,
worth stressing, well translated. Wisely the brotherhood has employed the
services of a native speaker of English (our member Trevor Curnow) to polish
the translation. The illustrations are excellent – well chosen, well
designed, and well reproduced. For too long Pantokrator was the pariah of the
Holy Mountain. It is clear from this book that it is now one of its jewels.