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Rhodes Island - Filerimos |
Introduction
ST. JOHN MONASTERY IN PATMOS ISLAND
GREECE
The Monastery of St. John the Divine (Agios
Ioannis o Theologos), also known as the Monastery of St.
John the Theologian, is a fortress-like Orthodox monastery
on the island of Patmos in Greece.
In 1088, the Byzantine
Emperor Alexios Komnenos gave the island of Patmos to the
soldier-priest Ionnis Khristodhoulos "the Blessed." The
greater part of the monastery was completed by
Khristodhoulos in just three years. Its heavily fortified
exterior was necessitated by the threats of piracy and
Seljuk Turks.
The monastery consists of
interconnecting courtyards, chapels, stairways, arcades,
galleries and roof terraces. Hidden in the walls are
fragments of an ancient temple of Artemis that was destroyed
in the 11th century. The main chapel is lovely, as is the
adjoining Chapel of the Theotokos, whose frescoes date from
the 12th century.
The Treasury has an impressive
array of religious art and treasure, mainly consisting of
icons of the Cretan school. The star exhibits are an unusual
mosaic icon of Agios Nikolaos and the 11th-century parchment
granting the island to Hristodoulos.
About halfway up (or
down) the cobbled path that leads here is the Cave of the
Apocalypse, the very place where St. John is believed to
have received his revelations.
About halfway up to the
Monastery of St. John on Patmos is the Cave of the
Apocalypse. This sacred grotto is believed to mark the spot
where St. John received his visions from Christ that he
recorded in the Book of Revelation.
"I John, your
brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and
patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island
of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of
Jesus. On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard
behind me a loud voice like a trumpet." (Revelation 1:9-10) |
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