Monastery of Daou-Penteli
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | Byzantine Research Fund |
| Reference No. | BRF/01/01/01/123 |
| Level | Item |
| Place |
Daou Pendeli |
| Dates | Mar. 1902 |
| Donor/Creator |
Hasluck, Dr Frederick William Comyn, Dr Charles Heaton Fitzwilliam |
| Scope and Content | Upper row (from left to right): West elevation, South elevation, East elevation, Cross section (looking west). Middle row (from left to right): Cross section, North elevation, Longitudinal section (looking south). Lower row (from left to right): Ground plan, Plan at gallery level, Plan at lower roof level. The elevations and the plans depict the main church, the katholikon, of the Daou-Penteli monastic complex. The drawing is entitled: 'Church of the Ruined Monastery at Daou-Mendeli- Attica- Greece'. Each elevation and plan is inscribed separately. Futher annotation in pencil survives. F.W. Hasluck contributed to the survey these buildings. |
| Further information | The monastery of Daou-Penteli stands on the eastern slope of the Penteli mountain. Demetrios Anadromaris and Ioannis Alexinas restored the church of Tao, founded on the same location by a certain Iberian noble in the late 11th-early 12th c., during the second half of the 16th c. In 1565 the Athenian metropolitan Sophronios re-founded the restored church as the katholikon of a new monastic complex dedicated to Christ Pantokrator. The monastery of Daou (the name derives from the Iberian land of 'Tao') suffered severe damage by Algerian pirates at the end of the 17th c. The katholikon follows a type frequently characterised as 'Hagioreitikos'. The imposing central dome is supported by six pillars, a unique feature in Byzantine and post-Byzantine architecture in Greece. Parts of the impressive marble templon of the middle Byzantine church have been incorporated into the sixteenth-century masonry. The exonarthex is a later addition. Ruins of the monastic enclosure, the cells, the refectory, the stables and of a defence tower still survive in situ. |
| Reference |
1903. BSA 9: pl.16. Link to article Ευρετήριον των μνημείων της Ελλάδος :Μέρος Α, 1. Μεσαιωνικά μνημεία Αττικής. 185, fig.247. |