Vlatadon Monastery
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | Byzantine Research Fund |
| Reference No. | BRF/02/01/07/275 |
| Level | Item |
| Place |
Vlatadon Monastery Thessalonike |
| Dates | 1907/8? |
| Donor/Creator |
Harvey, Mr William |
| Scope and Content | View from the west. The photograph is labelled in white ink: 'Tchaoush Monastir'. It is initialed ('W.H') in the upper right-hand corner. Further annotation in pencil survives at the back of the photograph. See also photo no.: 02/11/13/04 (BRF no. 02/01/07/276). |
| Further information | The katholikon of the Vlatadon monastery, located in the upper part of the present-day city of Thessalonike close to the north side of the acropolis walls, was founded, according to a surviving nineteenth-century inscription by the Vlatis brothers, between 1351 and 1371. The monastery suffered considerable damage by fire in 1870, and the katholikon was extensively restored in 1907. The parts of the church that belong to the Byzantine period consist of the holy bema with the attached south chapel dedicated to apostles Peter and Paul, the main part of the nave underneath the dome and the south wall of the open portico which consists of three arches supported by two columns. In terms of architecture the katholikon is of the tetrastyle cross-in-square type. Worth noting are the semi-circular gables at the arms of the central cross. The walling consists of stone and bricks arranged in irregular courses with very few decorative elements: a cross with the letters ΙΣ ΧΝΚ is inscribed on a ceramic panel built in the upper part of the exterior wall of the central apse, thirteenth-century glazed ceramic plates decorate the south wall of the naos. Tiny fragments have survived of the original fresco decoration of the church. Parts of the original marble iconostasis are kept at the museum of the monastery. |