Omblou Monastery: An Orthodox Monastery in Greece
Site at a Glance
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- Greece
- Primary era
- Unclassified
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
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- Civilizations
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- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Monastery
On this page8 sections
History
Omblou Monastery is an Orthodox monastery in Greece, near Patras, founded in 1189 on Mount Oblos in Achaia. It was built on the site of a small earlier chapel and took its name from that predecessor. The monastery is associated with the Church of Greece and the Metropolis of Patras.
Foundation and Ottoman rule
During Ottoman rule, the monastery attracted monks from the surrounding region and became involved in local liberation struggles. Its history also includes repeated destruction during the successive conquests of the area, including the periods of Venetian, Ottoman, and German control.
In 1770, an uprising in the Greek lands encouraged by Russian intervention against Ottoman rule, known as the Orlov revolt, was suppressed by Albanian forces brought by the Ottomans. In April of that year, the forces looted and burned the monastery, destroying its monastic cells and church. The monastery codex records the fire. A document dated May 13, 1770, states that the Ottoman officials Suleiman and Mustafa declared that the monks had submitted to Mehmet Pasha, a senior Ottoman official, and should not be disturbed.
The monastery’s dependent property in Patras was also burned during the disturbances of 1770 and was rebuilt in 1790. In 1581, the monastery had become Stavropegic, meaning that it was placed directly under a senior ecclesiastical authority rather than the ordinary local diocesan hierarchy. In 1896, the Monastery of Agios Konstantinos was incorporated into it as a dependent monastic establishment, or metochi.
Role in the Greek Revolution
At the beginning of the Greek Revolution of 1821, the uprising against Ottoman rule, Omblou Monastery served as a supply center for the revolutionary camp at Patras. A monastery codex records that the revolution reached Oblos on March 3, 1821. This entry may refer to a meeting of local leaders concerning the uprising.
Rebels gathered at Oblos from March 21 to 23 before descending on Patras. On March 23, Asimakis and Dimitrakis Zaimis and others wrote from Kalavryta to the abbot of Agia Lavra, asking that food shipments to Oblos not be delayed because the army was in danger of dispersing.
On April 3, 1821, Yusuf Pasha arrived at Patras and lifted the siege of its fortress, dispersing the camps of A. Zaimis and A. Londos. Around the end of May, Andreas Zaimis strengthened the defenses around Oblos and repelled an attack by Turkalbanian forces led by Aslanakis. These events formed part of the monastery’s contribution to the revolutionary struggle in Achaia.
The name Oblou
The monastery’s name has several proposed explanations. One connects it with the earlier chapel and an attributed Arvanite name, referring to the Sweet Virgin Mary of the cuckoo’s mountain. Other interpretations relate the name to a weapon, level or landslide-prone ground, clay, or an animal hoof, footprint, path, or passage through woodland. The last explanation associates it with paths used by animals and people.
Remains
Monastery complex
The monastery occupies approximately 1,800 square metres on the mountain now called Oblos. Its surviving complex was established on the site of the earlier chapel that gave the monastery its name, and its principal church and internal chapel form the main identified religious features of the enclosure.
Katholikon
The katholikon, the principal church of an Orthodox monastery, is dedicated to the Presentation of the Theotokos. This Christian feast commemorates the presentation of Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the Temple.
Chapel of Saint Charalambos
An internal chapel dedicated to Saint Charalambos is located within the monastery complex. It forms a separate devotional space inside the monastic enclosure alongside the katholikon.
Nearby sites
