Hagios Ioannis Monastery

Department Archive
Collection Byzantine Research Fund
Reference No. BRF/02/01/16/037
Level Item
Place Nisos Pátmos
Dates 1903-1908
Donor/Creator Jones, Mr Ronald P.
Scope and Content View of courtyard. This is a Hellenic Society photograph (H.S. 7632). It is signed (P.R.Jones) and annotated in pencil at the back.
Further information The monastery of Hagios Ioannis o Theologos on the island of Patmos was founded on the ruins of an ancient temple of Artemis in 1088 by monk Christodoulos at the instigation of emperor Alexios Komnenos. It consists of several courtyards, chapels, stairways, arcades, galleries and other auxiliary monastic buildings. The complex was heavily fortified. The chapel of the Theotokos is decorated with high quality twelfth-century frescoes while the treasury houses an impressive collection of religious artefacts, mainly icons of the so-called Cretan school.

The Cave of the Apocalypse is about halfway up the path that leads to the monastic complex. According to tradition, this is the location where St. John wrote the Book of Revelation. The Chapel of St. Anna, situated at the entrance to the cave, was also constructed by Christodoulos.
Related records [BSA SPHS 01/3935.7632], Patmos: Monastery of Saint John the Theologian, showing arcades in courtyard, Latest 1908