esphigmenou monastery mounth athos greece

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Esphigmenou monastery - Mounth Athos Greece

Located near the Hilandar monastery, it is the northernmost of all Athonite monasteries. The current monastery dates back to the 10th century, while tradition holds that the site had been used as a monastery since as early as the 5th century. Esphigmenou ranks eighteenth in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries and since the early 1970s has embroiled in legal and ecclesiastical disputes. This is the largest monastery on Mt. Athos, with around 100 monks.