The Holy Monastery of Iviron, Mount Athos

The Iviron Monastery, (Greek: Ιβήρων) is one of the twenty monasteries located on the peninsula of Mount Athos in northeastern Greece. The monastery is located on an inlet on the northeast side of the peninsula and is third in precedence among the twenty monasteries on Mount Athos.

Iviron was established late in the tenth century on the site of an earlier monastery, the monastery of Clement. The monastery was built under the supervision of two Georgian monks, John the Iberian and Tornike Eristavi between 980-983 and housed Georgian clergy and priests. Iveron literally means “of the Iberians” in Greek. The name Iviron originated from the ancient Georgian Kingdom of Iberia (Iveria) where the master architect of the monastery Ioannes was from. Two chapels, Panaghia and John the Precursor, are from this early period. Located in the center of the monastery court the katholikon of the monastery was originally built in the first half of the eleventh century and restored in 1513 by the Iberian monk George Varasvatzes who was the abbot of the monastery for many years. The katholikon is dedicated to the memory of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and celebrates its feast day on August 15.

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