The Athonite or Athonias Academy ( Greek : Αθωνιάς Εκκλησιαστική Ακαδημία ) is a Greek Orthodox educational institution founded at 1749 in Mount Athos , then in the Ottoman Empire and now in Greece . The school offered high level education, where ancient philosophy and modern physical science were taught. With the establishment of the Athonite Academy the local monastic community took a leading role in the modern Greek Enlightenment during the 18th century. It aroused the hostility of more conservative circles and was shut down in 1821, but reopened in 1842. The Academy's function was also suspended in 1916–1930 and 1940–1953 due to the World Wars .
25-656: The Athonias was founded in 1749 as a dependency of Vatopedi monastery with the initiative and the financial support of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Cyril V . The first building of the Athonias was erected on the top of a hill northeast of Vadopedi, where its imposing ruins still exist today. First director became the theologian Neophytos Kafsokalyvitis . In 1753, the Ecumenical Patriarchate entrusted Eugenios Voulgaris with
50-555: A medieval royal charter , the 13th-century Vatopedi Charter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria dedicated to the monastery. It was discovered in the monastery's archives in 1929. The library holds 2,000 manuscripts and 35,000 printed books. Among manuscripts from Vatopedi are Uncial 063 , Uncial 0102 , and the Vatopedi Psalter in the British Library and the early-14th century Codex Vatopedinus 655 divided between
75-405: A commission to investigate the deal. However, after investigations, the estimations of the public agencies for the exchanged real estate objects were found to have been in order. In December 2010, a Court of Appeals found guilty and imposed a ten-month imprisonment (with three years suspension) to ex-judge Maria Psaltis on charges of misconduct and violations of judicial secrecy. The same penalty
100-775: Is sometimes also translated as "belt", "sash" or "girdle". Its feast day is September 13 . According to the Sacred Tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, at the time of her Dormition , the Theotokos was buried by the Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem . Three days later, Thomas the Apostle , who had been delayed and unable to attend the funeral , arrived and asked to have one last look at
125-651: Is unknown. It was kept at Jerusalem for many years, until it was translated to Constantinople in the 5th century, together with the Robe of the Virgin Mary , and deposited in the Church of St. Mary at Blachernae . This relic was embroidered with gold thread by the Empress Zoe (d. 899), the wife of Emperor Leo VI , in gratitude for a miraculous cure. During the reign of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180) in
150-528: The Virgin Mary . When he and the other apostles arrived at Mary's Tomb , they found that her body was missing. According to some accounts, the Virgin Mary appeared at that time and gave her belt (cincture) to the Apostle Thomas. Traditionally, the cincture was made by the Virgin Mary herself, out of camelhair . The history of the cincture prior to the reign of Justinian in the sixth century
175-682: The 12th century, an official feast day for the cincture was established on August 31 on the Orthodox liturgical calendar . Later, the Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (1347–1355) donated the cincture to the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos , where it remains to this day, in a silver reliquary of newer manufacture which depicts the Monastery. In the fall of 2011, the venerated object
200-736: The Athonite . By the end of the 15th century, the Russian pilgrim Isaiah wrote that the monastery was Greek. In 1990, Vatopedi was converted from an idiorrhythmic monastery into a cenobitic one. Two large sketes (monastic style communities) are attached to Vatopedi: the Skete of Saint Andrew in Karyes and the Skete of Saint Demetrius near the main monastery. Other kellia (κελλιά; small monasteries which are not independent) are also dependent on
225-746: The British Library and the French Bibliothèque Nationale , which includes numerous peripluses , extracts from Strabo and Ptolemy 's geographical works, and early maps. In September 2008, the monastery was implicated in an alleged real estate scandal (see also the Greek Misplaced Pages article ). The monastery was accused of trading low-value land for high-value state property in a deal with the New Democracy government of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis . In
250-570: The Western Church is the Girdle of Thomas ). The silver and jewel-encrusted reliquary containing the skull of St. John Chrysostom is kept in the Monastery and is credited by Eastern Orthodox Christians with miraculous healings . The monastery also contains the Iaspis , a chalice fashioned of a single piece of the precious stone jasper , and numerous icons . Vatopedi's library preserves
275-460: The church. When Cyril V fell from the patriarchal throne conservative circles of Mount Athos were encouraged to come out openly against the progressive educational methods of Voulgaris. The latter, feeling abandoned, resigned in 1758/9 and was replaced by Nikolaos Zerzoulis , who was known as one of the first proponents of Newtonian science in Greek education. However, by the end of the 18th century
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#1732775548884300-532: The contested decision of the Court of Appeals had no legal justification and presented logical gaps, inconsistencies, and shortcomings. Moreover, the Supreme Court ruling that any disclosure of the outcome of the conference only a court is no longer a criminal offense [sic], which means that the three defendants will be treated under more favorable conditions when judged again by the court. In October 2013, it
325-466: The ensuing court case, all of the accused were ultimately acquitted and it was decided that there was no financial damage to the public treasury. American writer Michael Lewis reports that a Greek parliamentary commission estimated the value of government property received by the monastery at one billion euros. Michael Lewis, in his book Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World , visits
350-780: The monastery purported by believers to be miracle-working: Elaiovrytissa, Ktetorissa (Vimatarissa), Esphagmeni, Pantanassa, Pyrovolitheisa, Antiphonitria and Paramythia. Cincture of the Theotokos The Cincture of the Theotokos is believed to be a relic of the Theotokos ( Blessed Virgin Mary ), now in the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos , which is venerated by the Holy Eastern Orthodox Church . The word "cincture" ( Greek : zone )
375-457: The monastery, details the frugal, hard-working lifestyle of the monks and investigates the real estate deal which would have helped in efforts to restore Vatopedi to its former glory. After the story became public in August 2008, the government cancelled the land deals and two ministers resigned, under huge pressure from the media and public. Additionally, Parliament voted unanimously to set up
400-500: The monastery. Vatopedi was built on the site of an early Christian settlement dating from Late Antiquity . In 2000, the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities excavated the foundations of an early Christian basilica to the north of the current katholikon of Vatopedi. Vatopedi was founded in the second half of the 10th century by three Greek monks, Athanasios, Nicholaos, and Antonios, from Adrianople , who were disciples of Athanasius
425-502: The monastery. Some of the kellia in the area of the main monastery compound include: Extensive construction projects are underway to restore the monastery's larger buildings. The Monastery of Vatopedi holds the Cincture of the Theotokos , a belt held by some believers to be the actual belt of the Theotokos , which she wore on earth and gave to Thomas the Apostle after her death and during her transition to heaven (the equivalent in
450-741: The persons involved guilty of illegal money transactions or real estate fraud. Then, in late December 2011, Abbot Ephraim was arrested, and jailed pending trial, for alleged fraud and embezzlement. On January 11, 2012, the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court accepted the proposal of the Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court Law Mr. Tsangas: it set aside the decision under which Psaltis, Ephraim, and Arsenios had each been sentenced to 10-month imprisonment (with three years suspended). The Supreme Court considered that
475-520: The rate of literacy in Mount Athos had declined and the traditional local circles became hostile towards the progressive teaching in the Athonias. The Athonias was closed in 1821 when the Greek War of Independence broke out and reopened in 1845 in Karyes , the administrative center of Mount Athos. It was financially supported by the monasteries and the monks of the region. The Academy's function
500-455: The renewal of ecclesiastical education because it considered that he possessed the best available talents and offered him the post of the Academy's director. The time when Voulgaris became director of the Athonias (1753–1759), the modern Greek Enlightenment movement was exerting a productive influence throughout the entire monastic community of Mount Athos. The teaching methods of Voulgaris for
525-489: The revival and upgrading of learning within the Orthodox Church envisaged a substantial training in classic studies combined with an exposure to modern European philosophy, including works of René Descartes , Gottfried Leibniz , Christian Wolff and John Locke . This curriculum could only be taught in a monastic environment for as long as Voulgaris enjoyed the full and unswerving support of the highest powers inside
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#1732775548884550-510: Was also suspended in 1916–1930 and 1940–1953 due to World War I and World War II . Vatopedi monastery The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi ( Greek : Βατοπέδι , pronounced [vatoˈpeði] ) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos , Greece. The monastery was expanded several times during its history, particularly during the Byzantine period and in the 18th and 19th centuries. More than 120 monks live in
575-605: Was brought to Russia to allow Russian Orthodox Christian pilgrims to reverence it in different cities. In St. Petersburg it attracted a 2 km-long line of people to the Resurrection Nunnery on Moskovsky Prospect virtually blocking automotive traffic on adjacent streets, totalling 200,000, with Vladimir Putin being among the first ones. The second city was Yekaterinburg where about 150,000 people from nearby territories came, including regional governor Alexander Misharin . The next cities were Norilsk (50 thousand,
600-561: Was issued to Abbot Ephraim and monk Arsenios on instigation. Finally Abbot Ephraim, monk Arsenios and the judge Maria Psaltis were relived from the accusation from Areios Pagos, the Supreme Court of the Hellenic Republic (Greece) , by the act 966/2012. As of December 2011, 3 years after the reveal of the alleged scandal, none of the two different investigating parliamentary commissions and various trials had found any of
625-579: Was reported that fourteen persons, including Abbot Efrem and monk Arsenios were indicted on several counts including money laundering related to the Land Deal Controversy, which has been referred to as the "holy exchange". On 23 March 2017, Efrem was fully acquitted. On 28 May 2021, Efrem was hospitalized in Athens due to a COVID-19 infection. There are seven icons of the Mother of God in
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