The Romanian Archive

The close relations of the Vatopedi Monastery with the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia and the multitude of shares and estates it acquired in them – from the 17th century onwards – led to the accumulation of a large volume of relevant archival material. The Vatopedi Romanian archive is the largest of its kind on Mount Athos and consists of 12.650 documents (some of which are richly decorated), maps, archival codes and registers. This material dates from the 15th to the 19th centuries, is mainly in Romanian, but also includes 874 Greek documents, 464 Russian, 285 Slavonic and a small number of Turkish, Armenian, Serbian, etc. The oldest document dates back to 1428 and was issued by the ruler of Moldavia, Alexander the Good. In terms of content, it mainly contains documents relating to the financial affairs of the Monastery and its shares in the two principalities; dedications of real estate, contracts, receipts, correspondence of Vatopedi trustees, estate plans, alms, etc.

The publishers of the documents are mainly Romanians and Greeks and hold various ecclesiastical and secular positions. Among the ecclesiastical ones appear patriarchs of Constantinople (such as Gabriel IV in the 18th century) and Jerusalem (such as Chrysanthos Notaras around 1731), metropolitans of Moldavia and Wallachia, abbots of monasteries that had spiritually attached themselves to Vatopedi (e.g. Gabriel of the Rakitoasa Monastery in 1745) and prominent Vatopedi brothers, especially administrators of the Monastery's property in Romania (e.g. Archimandrite Dionysios of Vatopedi and Gregory of Ireneopolis).

Among the publishers of secular documents, the most important are the rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia (Romanians and Phanariotes), who benefactors of the Monastery. Stephen the Great stands out, who in 1495-6 built the arsana of the Vatopedi Monastery, Basil and Stefanitza Lupou, who in 1642 and 1660 dedicated respectively the Monastery of Saint Demetrius in Galați and the Monastery of Golia in Iași, and Michael Sturza (1834-1849). Among the Phanariotes are found members of the Ghika, Mavrokordatou, Mourouzi, Ypsilantis families, etc. who supported the Monastery in various ways. Finally, a large part of the archive's material comes from various political services of the Danubian principalities, from local rulers, from Greek and Romanian families, villagers, priests, etc.