The Vatopedi Monastery, the Holy Belt and its tours, the metochia and the spiritual radiance of the monastery

The text is a presentation by archaeologist, Dr. Nikolaos M. Bonovas, at the 9th Scientific Conference of the Athonite Center of Thessaloniki, which had as its theme “The Radiance of Mount Athos in the Orthodox World: The Metochions”. The presentation, entitled “Documents from the Archives of the Vatopedi Monastery Regarding Monks’ Tours (19th Century): Evidence for the History of the Metochions and the Spiritual Radiance of the Monastery”*, is published in the volume of the conference proceedings.

We are fortunate to know of the presence of monks from Vatopedi in several places, either because accurate testimonies of their travels have survived thanks to their correspondence, or because there are documents about the monastery's metochia (temples, houses, areas of land).
Of great importance for the research is the relevant material preserved in the newer archive of the Monastery. This includes an autonomous folder with two hundred and forty-five letters, other letters scattered in codes of scattered correspondence, as well as entries of donations from believers in financial records. All of them outline the journeys of the Agiozonite fathers from the brotherhood of the Vatopedi monastery, who brought holy relics and performed consecrations and services in areas of Orthodox Communities in the Eastern Aegean. The Agiozonites carried pieces of the Holy Belt of the Virgin Mary, which constitutes the palladium of the monastery, along with a piece of the Holy Cross and usually the casket of Saint Gregory the Theologian1, for the sanctification and deliverance of the faithful, after their invitation, to areas where epidemics (plague, cholera), drought, heatwaves, or swarms of locusts and other insects were occurring.

The Holy Belt is a relic from the earthly life of the Virgin Mary and the palladium of the Vatopedi monastery. It is woven with camel hair, according to tradition, by the Virgin Mary, who gave it to the apostle Thomas during her Assumption into heaven. The Holy Belt was kept in Jerusalem until the 4th century, when the emperors Theodosius the Great and his son Arcadius dedicated it to the temple of the Chalcoprateians in Constantinople.

Later, the Holy Belt was transferred by Emperor Leo VI the Wise to the palace, where he cured his wife Zoe, who embroidered the belt with gold thread. Under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), the celebration of the Holy Belt was established on August 31, while the relic served as a talisman for the Byzantine army on campaigns.

With the defeat of Isaac II Angelos by the Bulgarian ruler Asan in 1185, the belt fell into his hands, to be acquired in a similar manner by the Serbian ruler Lazarus (1371-1389), who then donated the Holy Belt to the Vatopedi Monastery. According to another tradition, the Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (1347-1355) donated the Holy Belt to the Monastery2.
The collection of data, derived from the study of documents on the journeys of the Agios Zoni fathers with the Holy Belt and other relics, as well as the contributions of the faithful, helps in the detection of the metochia of the Vatopedi monastery, as the presence of the Agios Zoni fathers left its mark on communities of the Orthodox East. For this reason, the brief presentation of the documents is enlightening. Then, various places and metochia of the Monastery, where the Agios Zoni fathers were stationed, are presented. The presentation of the places is done according to the temporal succession and geographical unification of the available epistolary material.

The holy belt members (Predecessors Neophytos, Dionysios, Elder Athanasios) arrived in Kusadasi (March 3, 1819), where a brother welcomed them and together they visited the village of Tzegili3. The previous Dionysios Bookshoped his next visit (September 14, 1819)4. The commissioners of the Monastery granted permission (November 26, 1819) to the holy belt members (hierodeacon Panteleimon, elder Constantios) to spend the winter in Kusadasi at the request of the residents5. A committee requested information from them about the delay in sending the holy belt (May 10, 1820)6. The existence of a brother in combination with the succession of letters make it very likely that the Monastery had a branch in Kusadasi.

Deacon Panteleimon and Elder Constantius completed a series of consecrations in Meleniko (September 14, 1819) (fig. 1) 7. Apparently, services were also held in the chapel of the Holy Belt, which was all that remained of the destroyed monastery of Panagia Spilaiotissa Meleniko on the plateau of Agios Nikolaos, which is also called the Little Mount Athos. The monastery was founded in 1220 and was attached to Vatopedi in 1365, a fact that was ratified by the Serbian despot John of Ugclesis (1365-1371) in 1371 8.
At the end of the 17th century, the monastery of Spilaiotissa was renamed the monastery of Agia Zoni, whose cult spread to the region in the early 18th century. At the same time, two other nearby monasteries were dedicated to Vatopedi9. The ties with the dominant monastery of Vatopedi were maintained until the 20th century.10
A letter from the Agiozonite priest Savvas, accompanied by two fathers of the Monastery, states (11 May 1827) that in Kavala they were hosted “near the metropolis of the Virgin Mary, the son of the priest Demetrius Thomas”11. From two subsequent letters from Pope Savvas (17 and 26 May 1827) it appears that the consecrations continued in houses in Kavala, including the father’s house of the Prior Dionysios. He could hardly be identified with the well-known archimandrite who came from Ainos, was the administrator of the shares of the Monastery in Iași, erected buildings and donated valuable relics12.
The alms of the faithful in Kavala amounted to 1800 groschen and correspondence from the Monastery was received from Xanthi and Thassos13. Panagia was the only church of the Greeks. Its construction took place perhaps in the 18th century, on the site of the monastery of Panagia Kamytziotissa (15th century)14, inside the castle on the peninsula of the city. The church was demolished before 1960 15.

* We owe warm thanks to the most venerable Archimandrite Fr. Ephraim, abbot of the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi, who entrusted me with the publication of the Monastery's archival material, as well as to the monks Fr. Philippos, Avvakum, and Joseph for their general assistance.

The following abbreviations are used in this article: AMB: Vatopedi Monastery Archive, EEBS: Annual of the Society for Byzantine Studies, IMMB: Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi. Tradition-History-Art, vols. A'-B', Mount Athos 1996.

1. G. Mantzaridis, "Miraculous icons and holy relics", IMMB, vol. A, 126-128, fig. 86, 88.

2. Shrine of the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi, Mount Athos 42011, 59-60; Mantzaridis, “Miraculous Icons”, ibid., 127-128, 329, note 14.
3. AMB, Lithon Archive, F. 16, no. 16001a.
4. AMB, Lithon Archive, F. 16, no. 16018a.
5. AMB, Lithon Archive, F. 16, no. 16020a.
6. AMB, Lyton Archive, F. 16, no. 16019a-b.
7. AMB, Lithon Archive, F. 16, no. 16016a.

8. Cf. Actes de Vatopédi, v. I, Des origines à 1329, Édition diplomatique par J. Bompaire, J. Lefort, V. Kravari, Ch. Giros, Paris 2001, no. 12, 13, 21, 36∙ Actes de Vatopédi, v. II, De 1330 à 1376, Édition diplomatique par
J. Bompaire, J. Lefort, V. Kravari, K. Smyrlis, Paris 2006, no. 120∙ M. Goudas, “Byzantine Documents of the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos”, ΕΕΒΣ 4 (1927) no. 11∙ V. Neshava, Melnik. God-masoned town, Sofia 2008, 268-269.
9. N. Baeva, The Thread of Life Between the Fertility Belt and the Holy Girdle of the Virgin, Sofia 2012, 119, 123-126.
10. Prev. Theophilos of Vatopedi, “Chronicle about the Holy and Venerable Great Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos”, Macedonian 12 (1972) 96; I. A. Papaggelos, “The Metochia in Greece, Asia Minor, Bulgaria and Serbia”, IMMB, vol. A, 88; Neshava, Melnik, op. cit., 268.
11. AMB, Lithon Archive, F. 16, no. 16025a.
12. A. Ballian, "Byzantine and other miniature art", IMMB, vol. 2, 531-533.
13. AMB, Lyton Archive, F. 16, no. 16026a, d, 16027a-b.
14. A. Stefanidou, The port city of Kavala during the period of Turkish rule. Urban planning and historical investigation (1391-1912), Kavala 2007, 234, 280; K. Orphanidis, Historical and toponymic of Kavala, Kavala 1997, 69.
15. K. Lykourinos, “Kavala during the Ottoman period (late 14th century-1912). The old city-district of Panagia”, The old city of Kavala (7th BC-20th century). The place, the people, the evidence of history, vol. I, Kavala 2005, 162-165.