Monastery of Panagia Varnakova: A Byzantine Orthodox Monastery in Greece
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.8
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Greece
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- Byzantine, Greek
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Fortified Monastery
On this page17 sections
History
The Monastery of Panagia Varnakova is a Byzantine Orthodox monastery in Greece, founded in 1077 during the mid-Byzantine period by Saint Arsenius the Varnakovite, a monk from Karya in Doris. It is dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos, the Orthodox feast commemorating the death and bodily assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The first church was dedicated to the Nativity of the Theotokos, but the Dormition later became the monastery’s principal feast. The monastery remains an important religious center and is traditionally known as the Holy Lavra of Roumeli.
Foundation and Byzantine development
The foundation inscription inside the principal monastery church, above the doorway between the outer entrance hall and the main church, dates the foundation to the reign of Emperor Michael VII Doukas, who ruled from 1071 to 1078, and the patriarchate of Kosmas I of Jerusalem, held from 1075 to 1081. The name Varnakova may derive from a Slavic place-name of the tenth century. Another tradition links it to an ancient icon believed to have come from Varna in Bulgaria.
The first church was completed and painted in 1084, during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos and the patriarchate of Nicholas III Kyrdiniatis. A larger church was established in 1148, and the monastic complex was completed soon afterward. Alexios I later became a monk under the name Akakios and was buried in the monastery church. Manuel Porphyrogenitus was also buried there.
During the Komnenian period, the monastery held numerous dependencies in the surrounding region, including properties donated by members of the Komnenos dynasty, one of the major Byzantine ruling families. A foundation record from 1212 states that 96 hieromonks and deacons lived at Varnakova and that the monastery possessed extensive property.
Epirus and the late Byzantine centuries
After the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople in 1204, Varnakova came under the Despotate of Epirus, a Byzantine successor state established after the fall of the imperial capital. It remained within that polity until 1359, when the region was reincorporated into the Byzantine Empire. The Komnenian rulers of Epirus granted the monastery particular favour, and several members of the dynasty selected its principal church as their burial place.
The monastery was also connected with the Angelos-Komnenos dynasty and received patronage from the late Byzantine Palaiologan emperors. Constantine Komnenos Doukas, Despot of Acarnania and Aetolia, added the outer entrance hall in 1229. In 1919, the archaeologist Anastasios Orlandos discovered the dynastic tombs beneath the floor of the inner entrance hall. Their funerary slabs remain at the monastery.
Decline and renewal under Ottoman rule
Tradition holds that Varnakova was partly burned near the end of the fifteenth century and then entered a period of decline. Its fortunes improved in 1520, when Saint David became abbot, a position he held until 1532. During the sixteenth century, the monks worked to organize a library. A Greek school operating at schoolmaster level functioned at the monastery from before 1550 until 1900, with the monk-teacher Nikodemos Kavasilas among its leading figures. Saint Eugenios the Aitolian came to Varnakova in 1626 to study under the teacher-monk Kalinikos.
The community numbered approximately 200 monks in 1578. Ottoman authorities later seized monastery property, and the complex was looted during the Ottoman-Venetian conflicts of 1687 to 1699. Varnakova survived in part through the diplomacy of its abbot Jacobos and its relations with the Venetians, who still controlled nearby Nafpaktos, close to many of the monastery’s estates.
Under Ottoman rule, the monastery served as a religious, national, and patriotic center. It sheltered and provided a base for klephts, armed bands active in Ottoman-ruled Greek territories, and armatoles, locally recognized armed forces that could serve both Ottoman authorities and Greek resistance movements. Among those associated with Varnakova were Dimos Skaltsas, Konstantaras, and Kalyvas. The monastery sometimes became involved in armed clashes with Ottoman forces because it sheltered Greek commanders who were being pursued. The monk Parthenios Zografos fought in regional battles during the Greek War of Independence and became known as the Papaflessas of Doris.
Siege and destruction in 1826
In 1826, several weeks after the Exodus of Messolonghi, a force of approximately 4,000 men under Kioutachis besieged Varnakova. Refugees from the exodus, local commanders including Kitsos Tzavelas, monks, women, and children were inside the monastery under the leadership of Abbot Kosmas Theoharis.
Repeated assaults failed, so the besiegers secretly dug underground passages intended to destroy the monastery’s fortifications. An Albanian revealed the plan to the monks, but an attempted breakout on 26 May ended with the deaths of two monks and one layperson. Ottoman forces then blew up the monastery, destroying the historic church and severely altering the complex.
Rebuilding and recent history
Varnakova was rebuilt in 1831, probably with a personal subsidy of 1,800 phoenix coins from Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of the modern Greek state. Kapodistrias is therefore regarded as the monastery’s second founder. After the establishment of the modern Greek state, the monastery resumed operation, although with less property and a smaller extent than before.
The monastery was deserted in 1984 and reopened from 1992 under female monastics led by Abbess Theodosia Andrikopoulou. The 2011 census recorded 16 nuns. Structural damage from earthquakes, including the 1995 Aigion earthquake, led to the closure of the principal church for safety reasons in 2010. Worship continued in a newer church.
A major fire on 29 January 2017 severely damaged many monastery buildings. The principal church and the newer church initially survived, but the monastery archive and many historical relics were lost. A second fire on 14 June 2020 completely destroyed the newer church, the historic icon of Panagia Varnakova, and other religious relics. Reconstruction planning followed, and rebuilding of the principal church formally began with a blessing ceremony on 17 July 2021. An exact replacement for the destroyed icon, funded by Thanasis Martinos, was installed on 14 August 2021.
Panagia Varnakova continues to be venerated in the Orthodox tradition, and publications issued by the monastery preserve numerous miracle traditions associated with it. The site’s religious identity rests on both its long monastic history and the continuing devotion attached to the Virgin Mary.
Remains
The monastery occupies a small hill on the outskirts of the Vardousia Mountains, about 750 metres above sea level, within dense woodland of oak and wild horse chestnut. The complex looks toward mountainous Nafpaktia, Doris, Mount Giona, and the Mornos River. Its principal architectural focus is the katholikon, the main church of an Orthodox monastery, whose successive building phases preserve elements dating from the eleventh century alongside the nineteenth-century reconstruction.
The principal church
The rebuilt katholikon
The present katholikon was rebuilt in 1831 and decorated further between 1831 and 1838. Like its predecessor, it is a three-aisled basilica with a central dome, a longitudinal church form whose central space is covered by a dome. It has a pitched tiled roof and walls built of cut stone. The narthex, the entrance or vestibule area, and the main church are divided into aisles by rows of columns. The main church contains four pairs of columns. A two-lobed bell tower stands to the right of the entrance. Its design by Andreas Gasparis Kalandros reflects Ionian architectural influence, and Kalandros was responsible for the church’s reconstruction.
Surviving elements of the earlier church
The original church was begun in 1077 and completed and painted in 1084. The larger church established in 1148 was also a domed basilica, with three pairs of columns arranged in two rows to divide the interior into three aisles. Its inner narthex was rebuilt from its foundations in 1151, while the outer narthex was added in 1229. The earlier church was burned in 1700, possibly after a fire in the second half of the fifteenth century, renovated in 1805, and finally destroyed by explosives on 26 May 1826.
Part of the present main-church floor retains eleventh-century marble inlays, the only surviving decorative element from the earlier church. The 25 small square or rectangular panels are arranged in 14 groups. Their geometric designs and animal figures were made by cutting the marble according to a pattern and inserting small marble pieces into the prepared sections. Animal representations made by this technique are rare in Byzantine churches.
The narthex and foundation inscription
The present church has a single narthex occupying the position of the former outer narthex, part of which also survived. The former inner narthex is not visibly separated in the rebuilt church, although its earlier division from the main church is indicated by a floor-level difference of only a few centimetres. Above the doorway linking the narthex with the main church, the foundation inscription identifies the monastery’s establishment in 1077.
Paintings and iconostasis
The surviving wall paintings and the wood-carved screen separating the sanctuary from the nave belong to the nineteenth-century rebuilding, specifically the period from 1831 to 1838. A wall painting of the Hodegetria type, showing the Virgin as guide, also survives in the church. Anastasios Orlandos attributed it to a period before the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Burials and commemorative remains
Dynastic tombs
The tombs associated with members of the Komnenos dynasty were found beneath the floor of the inner narthex in 1919. Their funerary slabs remain at the monastery. A stone sarcophagus inscription names Anna and Konstantinos, who are identified as members of the Komnenos family.
Later church and devotional objects
The replacement church
After structural problems forced the closure of the katholikon in 2010, a newer church provided the monastery’s place of worship. The replacement building was completely destroyed by the fire of 14 June 2020. Plans subsequently included its reconstruction alongside repairs to buildings damaged by earthquakes and fire.
The icon of Panagia Varnakova
The historically venerated icon of Panagia Varnakova bore a crack running along the face of the Virgin. Eyewitness tradition attributed the damage to a local earthquake on 15 August 1940, the same day that the cruiser Elli was torpedoed at Tinos. The icon was destroyed in the 2020 fire. An exact replacement was installed at the monastery in 2021.
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