Hilandar

Coordinates: 40°20′46″N 24°07′08″E / 40.346111°N 24.118889°E / 40.346111; 24.118889
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Chilandar" redirects here. For the village in Iran, see
Chilandar, Iran
.
Not to be confused with Hilander Foods.
Hilandar
Хиландар
Χιλανδαρίου
Virgin Mary)
The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple
People
Founder(s)Saint Sava and Saint Symeon
ArchbishopEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Site
LocationMount Athos, Greece
Coordinates40°20′46″N 24°07′08″E / 40.346111°N 24.118889°E / 40.346111; 24.118889
Public accessMen only

The Hilandar Monastery (Serbian Cyrillic: Манастир Хиландар, romanized: Manastir Hilandar, pronounced [xilǎndaːr], Greek: Μονή Χιλανδαρίου) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It was founded in 1198 by Stefan Nemanja (Saint Symeon) and his son Saint Sava. St. Symeon was the former Grand Prince of Serbia (1166–1196) who upon relinquishing his throne took monastic vows and became an ordinary monk. He joined his son Saint Sava who was already in Mount Athos and who later became the first Archbishop of Serbia. Upon its foundation, the monastery became a focal point of the Serbian religious and cultural life,[1][2] as well as assumed the role of "the first Serbian university".[3] It is ranked fourth in the Athonite hierarchy of 20 sovereign monasteries.[4] The Mother of God through her Icon of the Three Hands (Trojeručica) is considered the monastery's abbess.[5]

The monastery contains about 45 working monks.[when?]

Etymology

The etymological meaning of "Hilandar" is probably derived from the Greek word

Byzantine transport ship, whose skipper was called "helandaris".[6]

Founding

The monastery was founded in 1198; prompted by the

Serbian people.[8]

Stefan Nemanja, Grand Prince of Serbia

Upon securing Serbian authority within the monastery,

Kosancicev Venac. Following 1199, hundreds of monks from Serbia moved to the monastery, while large pieces of land, metochions and tax proceeds from numerous villages were provided to the monastery, especially from the Metohija region of Serbia.[9]

Monastery of Theotokos Evergetis in Constantinople.[13]

The Nemanjić period and late Byzantine Empire

Saint Sava, first Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church

After the

Mar Saba monastery brethren to add this miraculous icon to the old prophesy made by the monastery's founder Saint Sabbas the Sanctified. Saint Sabbas the Sanctified adjured his monks centuries earlier to donate the icon of the Milk-feeding Theotokos and his hegumen cane to the "namesake monk of royal blood from a faraway land" who would experience, during his pilgrimage to the monastery, the fall of his hegumen cane to the floor, previously affixed above his grave, while venerating icons and praying on that spot.[15]

Danilo II.[16]

Stefan Milutin, King of Serbia and the Church of Entrance of the Theotokos
Serbian icon of Christ Pantocrator (Serbian: Христос Пантократор)

Consequently, Serbian

King Milutin played a major role in building the Hilandar monastery complex by reconstructing and expanding it.[17] In 1320 he completely reconstructed the main church of the Entry of the Lady Theotokos into the Temple which finally took its present shape as it became a symbol of Hilandar. The monastery complex was expended further north to encompass new monastic cells and fortifications. During his reign, several towers were completed, notably the Milutin Tower, located between monastery's docks and its eastern wall, and the Hrussiya or Basil's Tower situated on the shore.[18][19] Milutin also added a new main entrance gate which a chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas built in, in addition to the newly erected monastery dining chamber. An unmatched iconographic work took place during Milutin's era starting from the main church, through the dining chamber, to the cemetery church. At that time the number of Serbian monks skyrocketed and monasticism flourished even further as Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos
donated large pieces of land to the monastery's estate in Greece.

At the time of

Lazar Hrebeljanovic who constructed the narthex along the west side of the main Entry of the Lady Theotokos into the Temple
Church in 1380. By the end of the 14th century, Hilandar served as a refuge to numerous members of Serbian nobility.

Ottoman and modern period

King Aleksandar Obrenović
's visit in 1896.

The Byzantine Empire was conquered in the 15th century by the Ottoman Turks and their newly established Ottoman Empire. The Athonite monks tried to maintain functioning relations with the Ottoman sultans and following Murad II's occupation of Thessaloniki in 1430 they pledged their obedience to him.[22] Murad II left Mount Athos its self-rule and allocated for some remaining privileges. Hilandar retained its property rights and autonomy in the hinterland.[23] This was additionally confirmed and secured in 1457 by Sultan Mehmed II following the 1453 Fall of Constantinople. Thus, the Athonite independence was somewhat ensured.

In the second half of the 15th century, Hilandar moved to third place in the hierarchy of Athionite monasteries. It also became a refuge for Serbian monks seeking to evade the conflicts of the time. Following the fall of the

Jakšić noble family and paternal great-great-grandmother Helena, Empress Consort of Byzantium was also Serbian, also granted the Hilandar Monastery a plot of land with all necessary buildings in Moscow within a short walking distance from the Kremlin.[27] The 16th century saw the monastery acquire significant estate in the area, cementing their presence in the Mount Athos region.[28]

In the 17th century the number of Serbian monks dwindled, and the disastrous fire in 1722 saw a decline: in his account of 1745,

Ilarion Makariopolski, Sophronius of Vratsa and Matey Preobrazhenski had all lived there, and it was in this monastery that Saint Paisius of Hilendar began his revolutionary Slavonic-Bulgarian History. The monastery was dominated by Bulgarians until the late 19th century.[30]

A view of the Hilandar Monastery in 2006, after the Great Fire, and during first stages of the reconstruction process.
A view

However, in 1913, Serbian presence on Athos was quite big and the Athonite protos was the Serbian representative of Hilandar.[31]

Contemporary

In the 1970s, the Greek government offered power grid installation to all of the monasteries on Mount Athos. The Holy Council of Mount Athos refused, and since then every monastery generates its own power, which is gained mostly from renewable energy sources. During the 1980s, electrification of the monastery of Hilandar took place, generating power mostly for lights and heating.

In 1990, Hilandar was converted from an

cenobitic one.[32]

On March 4, 2004, there was a devastating fire at the Hilandar monastery, which destroyed much of the walled complex and all the wooden elements.[33] The library and the monastery's many historic icons were saved or otherwise untouched by the fire. Vast reconstruction efforts to restore Hilandar are underway.

Sacred objects

Icon of the Theotokos, "The Three-handed" (Trojeručica)

Among the numerous

Gregorian Calendar
.

A sculpture on a rock presenting Saint Symeon, the founder of Hilandar Monastery

The monastery also possesses the Wonderworking Icon of the

monastery treasure
.

There are some 1200 Slavic manuscripts. Archives include 172 Greek and 154 Serbian documents from the medieval era, which provides a glimpse into the economic and social structure of the period.[21] The Serbian variant of Old Church Slavonic developed at the monastery thanks to its scriptorium.

See also

References

  1. ^ Fine 1994, p. 38.
  2. ISBN 978-1-4443-3361-9
    .
  3. ISBN 978-81-208-0990-1
    .
  4. ^ "The administration of Mount Athos". Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  5. ^ Hilandar – The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity
  6. ^ a b Tibor Zivkovic - Charters of the Serbian rulers related to Kosovo and Metochia. p. 15
  7. ^ "За спас душе своје и прибежиште свом отачеству". Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  8. ISBN 978-1-4443-9254-8
    .
  9. ^ "Хиландарски поседи и метоси у југозападној Србији (Кособу и метохији)". hilandar.info. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  10. ^ Vlasto, The Entry of the Slavs Into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs, p. 219
  11. ^ "The Monastery of Hilandar". Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  12. ^ Bogdanović 1997, Предговор, para. 13, Карејски типик
  13. ^ Bogdanović 1997, Предговор, para. 14
  14. ^ Subotić 1998, pp. 34–35.
  15. ^ "Miraculous Icon - The Virgin with three hands (Bogorodica Trojeručica)". hilandar.info. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  16. ISBN 1139444085
    .
  17. ^ Subotić 1998, pp. 37–38.
  18. ^ a b "Chilandar Monastery". orthodoxia.it.
  19. ^ Subotić 1998, p. 38.
  20. ^ Subotić 1998, p. 40.
  21. ^
    ISBN 9780195046526
    .
  22. ^ Subotić 1998, p. 91.
  23. ^ Subotić 1998, p. 92.
  24. ^ Subotić 1998, pp. 92–93.
  25. ^ Subotić 1998, p. 95.
  26. ^ Subotić 1998, p. 98.
  27. ^ Robert Payne, Nikita Romanoff, "Ivan the Terrible", Rowman & Littlefield, 2002 pp. 436
  28. ^ Subotić 1998, pp. 100–102.
  29. Zograf monastery
    .
  30. ^ "Хилендарски манастир" (in Bulgarian). Православието. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  31. ^ Panagiotis Christou, "To Agion Oros", Patriarchal Institute of Patristic Studies, Epopteia ed., Athens, 1987 pp. 313-314
  32. ^ Dorobantu, Marius (2017-08-28). Hesychasm, the Jesus Prayer and the contemporary spiritual revival of Mount Athos (Master's thesis). Nijmegen: Radboud University. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  33. ^ Folić, Nađa Kurtović (2014). Consequences of a Wrong Decision: Case Study of Chilandar Monastery Fire. Structural Faults & Repair - 15th International Conference.
  34. ISBN 9780192511140
    .

Sources

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hilandar.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Hilandar Monastery.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hilandar&oldid=1220302621"