Monastery 'of the Mother of God' on Mt Athos?

[Anthony]

I have just come across a reference to a Greek "monastery of St Mary" (Marienkloster) on Mount Athos. This is puzzling me, because I don't know any monastery by this name. Could anybody identify it for me?

[M.C. Steenberg]

I have just come across a reference to a Greek "monastery of St Mary" (Marienkloster) on Mount Athos. This is puzzling me, because I don't know any monastery by this name. Could anybody identify it for me?

Dear Anthony, are you certain it is referring to a specific monastery, and not the monastic community of Athos as a whole, which is dedicated to the Mother of God?

None of the main monasteries is entitled specifically after the Theotokos (some sketae are), though some of their names relate in others ways to her.

INXC, Dcn Matthew

[Eric Peterson]

There was a Benedictine monastery dedicated to St. Mary on Mount Athos from the 10th to the 13th centuries. It's also called the Amalfiton, because it's monks came mostly from the Amalfi region of southern Italy. The names of several abbots from this monastery appear on imperial charters alongside abbots of the other monasteries. I think at the time it was a dependency of Great Lavra. All that's left of it today is a ruined tower, unfortunately.

[Anthony]

Thank you for the quick replies, Fr Matthew and Eric.


Dear Anthony, are you certain it is referring to a specific monastery, and not the monastic community of Athos as a whole, which is dedicated to the Mother of God?

I also wondered about this, but the reference seems to be quite specific. It also specifically refers to it as Greek. (It could, of course, be mistaken on both counts.) I can only find a "Bogoroditsa Skete", but that is Russian.

The context is that it is named as the source of a manuscript, the Codex Marianus. However this was in the nineteenth century, so I wonder whether it might be (following Eric's suggestion) a monastery that no longer exists.