Prousos Monastery
| Prousos Monastery | |
|---|---|
Μονή Προυσού | |
| View of Monastery | |
| Denomination | Greek Orthodox |
| Architecture | |
| Years built | 9th century |
Prousos Monastery (Greek: Μονή Προυσού) is a Greek Orthodox monastery in Evrytania, Greece. It is located 31 km south of Karpenisi and 53 km northeast of Agrinio, 2 km from the homonymous village and is a spiritual and pilgrimage center of the area. It is built on a steep, rocky area between the mountains of Helidona, Kaliakouda and the Panaitolikos mountain range, which is overgrown with fir trees.
The Holy Monastery of Prousos is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and celebrates on the 23 August (at Assumption of Mary).
History
In the 10th century the efforts of the Byzantine Empire for Christianization of the peoples of the empire intensified. Two adventurous monks, Dionysius and Timothy, following the orders of the emperor and the patriarchate, arrived at this wild place with the scattered pastoral populations, enthusiastic and with the purpose of their lives to make the inhabitants Christians. In order for the new religion to be accepted, they set up a shrine and settled in the area, where the ode of Odysseus no longer existed for many centuries. While there, they lit a torch permanently.
Due to this torch, the monastery that was built there in the 12th century was named "Monastery of Pyrsos" ("Orthodox Synaxaristis": Meeting of the Virgin Mary "in the Fire of Evrytania" on August 22–23). In 1587 the katholikon was destroyed by fire. Immediately after, it was rebuilt and decorated with murals. Then, around 1600, the icon of the Virgin Mary was made.
Because over the centuries the name was changed from "Pyrsou", "Bursou" which sounded bad, in 1845 the monastery and the village were officially renamed Prousos Monastery and Prousos respectively (Government Gazette, Law KE of December 5, 1845).
The monastery remained active all the years that followed, although its reputation was not very high, due to the inaccessibility of the area. In 1748 the monastery became Stavropegian.
Revolution of 1821
A few years before the national uprising of 1821, the Mount Athos spiritual leader Cyril Kastanofyllis was sent to the monastery as abbot. He was a member of the Friendly Society and the pretext was to correct his so-called spiritual and moral decline. Immediately and on the basis of a plan, he organized and operated the "School of Greek Letters" (1818-1828).
The monastery was a center of political guidance of the liberation struggle (there are letters from Mavrokordatos etc.). It played a critical role in the whole management of the siege of Messolonghi but also in the salvation of many after the destruction of the "Exodus". It functioned throughout the war as a healing and convalescent home for the wounded.
Karaiskakis had his headquarters in the monastery. In fact, General Karaiskakis donated the silver cover of the icon as a sign of gratitude for the warmth, which afflicted him and from which he was healed during his stay at the Monastery. The Sacristy of the Monastery today has the weapons of Karaiskakis.
Much of the monastery was burned by the Germans on August 16, 1944, because it was a support center for the guerrillas of the Resistance. Many relics, utensils, manuscripts and books were destroyed, but not the precious icon of the Virgin Mary, which had been placed in a crypt.
After the Civil War, the reconstruction of the Monastery by the abbot Germanos began again, which continued in the 1970s by the then abbot of the monastery and later abbot of the Holy Monastery of Docheiariou of Mount Gregory.
Tradition
According to tradition, the name of the Monastery is due to the miraculous icon of "Panagia Prousiotissa". This image originates from Bursa in Asia Minor and is believed to be the work of the Evangelist Luke. The Monastery in Bursa was founded in the 9th century. At that time the emperor of Byzantium was Theophilos (829-842), who was an iconoclast. The icon of the Virgin Mary was in a temple in Bursa, but for fear that it would be destroyed by decree of the emperor, it fled to Central Greece.
Tradition connects the shelter of the icon, the current location of the Monastery, with miracles that happened during the transfer of the icon there. The young man who transported it, together with one of his servants, decided to establish a monastery at this point as they found it impossible to move the image from there. They themselves became the first monks, with the names Dionysios and Timotheos.
Sights
The Holy Monastery of Prousos is one of the few surviving monasteries in Evritania. Its katholikon is an interesting church, cruciform with a dome. To the west, at the root of the rock, there is a crypt shaped like a chapel. The surviving frescoes were painted around 1785. Inside the crypt, 13th century frescoes are preserved on the outside, while inside there are two layers, one of which dates back to 1518. The wood-carved iconostasis of the crypt, which dates to 1810, is also very remarkable.
The Treasury of the Monastery contains a number of valuable manuscript Codes, icons, sacred vessels, reliquaries and books. There is an interesting museum in the Monastery with some of the treasures, such as icons from the 15th and 16th century, holy vestments, silver and gold chalice, handwritten codes, printed books and the sword of Karaiskakis.
Outside the Monastery there are two castles on the left and right, the "towers of Karaiskakis". There is also a small church of Agios Pantos, built in 1754. Finally, the building that housed during the Turkish occupation the School of Greek Letters that operated in the Monastery is preserved.
External links
- Η Μονή του Προυσού μέσα από φωτογραφικό λεύκωμα
- matia.gr
- saint.gr
- users.sch.gr Archived 2013-08-25 at the Wayback Machine
Coordinates: 38°44′58″N 21°39′25″E / 38.74944°N 21.65681°E
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