The Panagia Olympiotissa Monastery ( Greek : Μονή Παναγίας Ολυμπιώτισσας , lit. ' Panagia of Mount Olympus ') is a Greek Orthodox monastery in Elassona , Thessaly , Greece .
5-472: The monastery is located on the medieval citadel of the town of Elassona, and was founded between 1295 and 1304, probably by the co-rulers of Thessaly , the sebastokratores Constantine and Theodore . Only the main church ( katholikon ) survives from the original monastery complex. It comprises a domed main space with an ambulatory on three sides. Its masonry is brick-enclosed, and features use of ancient spolia . Various annexes were added at times to
10-544: A year, on 5 October, the icon is borne in a litany from the monastery to the Church of Saint Demetrios . Originally male, today it is a female monastery, and celebrates on 6 and 15 August. The monastery also features a guest house, library, and a natural history museum. Medieval Thessaly Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
15-497: The katholikon , but none of them survives today, apart from a small chapel in the southern side, built in 1819 and dedicated to Saint Nektarios. The 14th-century frescoes that decorate its interior make it "one of the finest examples of Palaiologan-era architecture and painting". Among the frescoes is a portrait of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos ( r. 1282–1328 ). The wooden templon dates to 1840,
20-418: Was constructed by the master carver Demetrios of Metsovo . In a 1342 sigillion of Patriarch John XIV Kalekas , the stauropegic status of the monastery is confirmed. A forged chrysobull attributed to Andronikos III Palaiologos concerning the possessions of the monastery contains extensive estates and subsidiary establishments ( metochia ) as far as Larissa . The monastery amassed great wealth, and
25-713: Was the major spiritual centre of the region, particularly during the 16th and 18th centuries. Dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos , until the 18th century it is recorded also as dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Saviour . The surname Olympiotissa derives from a famed icon of the Panagia , which is believed to have come from a no longer extant monastery at Karya , on the foot of Mount Olympus . Once
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